Wednesday, February 14, 2018

WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

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In a word, everything! This darling little girl is my three year old great-granddaughter who lives in North Carolina. Her name is Braya Lynn. I love her and think of her everyday.

Today we are celebrating St. Valentines Day. There really was a 'St. Valentine'. He was born in Italy in the third century. He became a Roman Priest and defied a law by the emperor who said that those in the Roman militia could not be with women at all - they couldn't date and couldn't marry as this was a distraction for the men. Yes, women have always distracted men however, St. Valentine believed in love and romance so secretly married many couples. The priest was punished for not obeying the emperor's wishes. He was ordered to be beaten and beheaded for his crime. He died on February 14, 226 AD  😢. I wish he could know that he hasn't been forgotten.

This was a very bloody beginning to a romantic holiday. There are some parallels between Jesus and St. Valentine. They both died for love and paid with their life. We throw around phrases about love without thinking too much about what we're saying - "Love makes the world go around", or "Love is in the air." We often mix love and passion together - we love our new car, chocolate cake. . .our country! Love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection; that seems similar to passion to me. 

When we love a person, there is a behavior attached to that love. The Bible has the perfect definition of love. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." I Corinthians 13:4-8

True love never fails, but we do, all the time in fact. Just as we could never keep the 10 Commandments perfectly, neither can we attain this level of 'loving' on a consistent basis. However if we don't have some standard of perfection to work toward, we're left wondering what 'perfect' is.

St. Augustine described exhortations as commands given by God, which are impossible for us to perform, but given so we know what to ask God for. When I read the I Corinthians 13 passage, I'm immediately aware that my ability to love falls way short and I'm not able to fix that on my own. This epiphany results in me coming to the Lord and trusting Him to work HIS love in me. We often don't have an intense feeling of deep affection for someone but we can always ask the Lord to allow His perfect love to overflow into our relationships. 

Scripture says that God is the source of all love - I John 4:7. Having created us, He knew we'd be incapable of 'agape' - Godly love. We are flawed humans, but the Lord will always come to our rescue; He never fails! 😊 Jesus has come to save us from ourselves. We simply need to surrender to His love, believe and trust in Him. If we can't trust God, we probably won't be able to trust others, and to have good relationships, we need to establish trust. 

Most of us have been told at one time or another that love is a choice. It's God's Holy Spirit that empowers us to make that choice. Over and over again we come to realize that we can trust our sovereign Lord. . .my Father always knows best, and always has my back!  

Thank you Lord for loving us enough to die for us. Thank you that we can call ourselves 'saints' because you've made us perfect in Your eyes.