So, in case you haven't noticed, it's Valentine's Day, also known as Single Awareness Day. Being completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of the holiday. Why, you may ask? For one, it's a very cliche holiday. It's pretty universal for a guy to get his woman flowers, chocolates, a teddy bear, or some combination of those items. Companies that sell cards, like Hallmark, make enough money on Valentine's Day to stay in business for a whole year. And if you don't get your significant other a gift, you are looked down upon as being a bad boyfriend or girlfriend, even if you both mutually decided to skip the hoopla and the celebrations. It's also a day to remind all the single people that yes, in case they'd forgotten, they are indeed still single. You thought you could enjoy your singleness, but alas, it is thrown back in your face as all your dating friends have a special day/evening with someone they care about. Now, maybe I'm being a little unfair to the holiday and Mr. Cupid since I've never had a boyfriend to give or receive gifts from. Maybe my opinion will change in the future. Who knows? Only time will tell.
However, as much as I dislike Valentine's Day, there are a few things we can learn from it.
1. Tell people you care about them. Just because it's not February 14th doesn't mean you can't express your love and appreciation to people you care about. You don't need an occasion to be loving. You never know what's going to happen in the future, so don't make the mistake of not telling someone you care for them. You might just bring them the kind of hope and encouragement they were searching desperately for.
2. Don't be afraid to spend money on a loved one. If you truly love someone, you will want to bless them by giving them gifts that they'll enjoy, just because you feel like it. You don't need a reason to buy them a present. You never know how your simple act of generosity will affect their day.
3. Rest in God's perfect love. We love because He first loved us, not because of any ability we have to fully love another person on our own. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to cover our sins with His pure blood. There's no more perfect example of love than Christ crucified! For me, Valentine's Day is a remembrance that only God can fulfill me and satisfy me completely. We all desire to be loved by a special someone, but God's love goes deeper than anything any person could give me.
So, as another Valentine's Day passes, I leave you with the chapter from the Bible known as the "love chapter". Wherever your relationship status stands, continue to pray to show this kind of love to other people, and pray to be loved by a man or woman striving to emulate Christ and His example of love.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."--1 Corinthians 13
However, as much as I dislike Valentine's Day, there are a few things we can learn from it.
1. Tell people you care about them. Just because it's not February 14th doesn't mean you can't express your love and appreciation to people you care about. You don't need an occasion to be loving. You never know what's going to happen in the future, so don't make the mistake of not telling someone you care for them. You might just bring them the kind of hope and encouragement they were searching desperately for.
2. Don't be afraid to spend money on a loved one. If you truly love someone, you will want to bless them by giving them gifts that they'll enjoy, just because you feel like it. You don't need a reason to buy them a present. You never know how your simple act of generosity will affect their day.
3. Rest in God's perfect love. We love because He first loved us, not because of any ability we have to fully love another person on our own. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself to cover our sins with His pure blood. There's no more perfect example of love than Christ crucified! For me, Valentine's Day is a remembrance that only God can fulfill me and satisfy me completely. We all desire to be loved by a special someone, but God's love goes deeper than anything any person could give me.
So, as another Valentine's Day passes, I leave you with the chapter from the Bible known as the "love chapter". Wherever your relationship status stands, continue to pray to show this kind of love to other people, and pray to be loved by a man or woman striving to emulate Christ and His example of love.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."--1 Corinthians 13
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