Love

Next Friday is Valentine’s Day. My kids are excited to exchange cards with their classmates and eat cupcakes. It is all cute and fun.

I had to look up the history of Valentine’s Day. It seems to have involved Christians converting people, miracles of healing, bishops secretly marring couples and executions. I can’t make this stuff up. History is better than fiction.

I heard a fun idea on the radio. This idea is applicable to everyone, but the original idea was for your teen showing romantic interest in someone, to replace ‘love’ and ‘it’ with the person’s name to see if that person exhibits loving characteristics from the bible. You can do it with your name too.

Love Alex is patient,
love Alex is kind.
It Alex does not envy,
it Alex does not boast,
it Alex is not proud.
It Alex does not dishonor others,
it Alex is not self-seeking,
it Alex is not easily angered,
it Alex keeps no record of wrongs.
Love Alex does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It Alex always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love Alex never fails.
–1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

How did it work out? Love is amazing, but not always easy for us to practice everyday. God is the truest and greatest source of love. God’s love never fails. God’s love for us never waivers.

The bible is full of scripture verses on love. Here are a few from The First Epistle of John. There are four pages packed with valuable lessons on love. Wishing you all love as you go about your day and weekend!

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
–1 John 4:18-19 (NKJV)

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
–1 John 4:8 (NKJV)

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
–1 John 4:10 (NKJV)

But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
–1 John 2:5 (NKJV)