Valentine’s Day is another Hallmark holiday, but clearly its
message is straight from God. “The only thing that
counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6). This
is one of only several times in
scripture that only or one thing is written, so pay attention.
In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul reminds us, “We
continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith,
your labor prompted by love and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ.” James also reminds us that faith and action work together and that faith without works is
dead. Yes, LOVE is an action word.
In the so-called “love chapter”, 1 Corinthians 13, love is
defined in amazing detail. “Love is patient,
love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not
easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails…Now we see but a poor reflection, then we
shall see face to face…And now these three remain, faith, hope and love, but
the greatest of these is love.” I
am reminded that this kind of love is not possible on our own, but only by and
with the Holy Spirit within us.
John admonishes us in 1 John 5:3, “This is
love for God: by loving God and carrying out his commandments.” And 1 John 4:16, “God is
love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this way love
is made complete for the day of judgment.” This is a powerful
and simple directive, but again, we can only do this by the power of the Holy
Spirit. John continues in the next couple of verses to share all important
help. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love
castes (or drives out) fear. We love because He first loved us.” (1
John 4:18-19).
Well there it is valiant Valentine visitors. What a
challenge, and what a promise from God to us. Love is all that matters it seems
to say. This is putting ourselves aside and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
The Good Samaritan did, and so can we, with God’s help
Happy Valentine’s
Day
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.