Jesus is Love: A Valentine’s Day Example for All of Us to Follow

Valentine’s Day is less than a week away. What was launched as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or two early saints named Valentinus has become a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and romantic love in many regions around the world. For those of us who will be alone on this special occasion during which the people of this world have set the expectation that we will celebrate the romance in our lives, Valentine’s Day is just a little scary. It doesn’t have to be if we shift our focus and use this special holiday as an invitation to grow in our love for our Heavenly Father and follow His guidance about loving the people of this world.

As my faith in God and my knowledge of our Heavenly Father has grown, so has my understanding that He loves us, and He has chosen us. Even if we are not involved in romantic love, we will always be loved by our Heavenly Father. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the ultimate expression of His love. If we accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, nothing will separate us from the love of our Heavenly Father.

As we read of Jesus’ life in the Bible, we grow in our understanding that Jesus is love and that He models for us an aspirational standard of that emotion. As the Bible tells the tales of how He healed and protected those suffering from disease, injuries, and persecution, we see His love. Did He chastise the sinful? Sure, but He also loved them, and He forgave them if they repented.

Jesus sets an aspirational standard for a forgiving and merciful love of others, one that we should follow. He gives us a love that never ends. As we love the people in our world, we will be a vehicle for drawing them to Him. In fact, Jesus calls on us to love others in His Word:

Matthew 22:34-38

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 In fact, in Matthew 25: 34 – 40, we hear from Jesus that we love Him by loving the people of this world. He emphasizes that in verse 40.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

 In Ephesians 4:2, we gain some guidance about how we should love others.

 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

Humility is the key to unity, and I now believe that prayer is the key to humility. My passion for praying for others has grown out of my recognition that I cannot offer the perfect love which He gives me in my own strength and with my own wisdom. Prayer is the difference between the best I can do, and the best God can do. Prayer softens my heart, downloads His wisdom, develops my patience, exposes my fear, challenges my thinking, and points me to the ultimate covenantal relationship with the One who loves all of us in the purest, most self-sacrificing way.

In fact, as a woman who once struggled with how I cultivate a love for our Heavenly Father in my own sinful heart, I found prayer as the vehicle for making that happen. I prayed to Him to help me love Him, and He honored that prayer.

Today, I find that I grow in my love for Him as I get to know Him better by spending time in His Word. Those strides are affirmed in Proverbs 8:17.

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me."

Every morning as I am in His Word, I continue to grow in my knowledge of Him. As I read the tales of all that He has done for us, my love for Him continues to grow. As I dance and sing to Him on my worship walk, I giggle as I think, “I’m dating God right now.”

In fact, as Jesus tells the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25: 1 – 13, I am encouraged to keep growing my relationship with the Lord so that I am ready when the bridegroom, i.e. Jesus Christ, comes! I want to know Him, and I know that He knows me. I want to love Him more and more, and I know that He loves me. How I grow in my relationship with Him is by growing in my knowledge and wisdom, by being obedient to His commands, and by investing my talents in furthering His kingdom here on earth and serving others. If I do that, He is pleased and my love for Him grows as I know Him more deeply.

One of the most compelling publications about our Heavenly Father’s love which I have ever read is Father’s Love Letter. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this powerful reflection on our Heavenly Father’s love, which integrates insights from dozens of verses from His Word into a letter from Him to all of us. A 20th Anniversary edition, both written and video, can be found at this link. As we approach Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to read His love letter to you and know how much our Heavenly Father loves you, sister in Christ!

Happy Valentine’s Day!