Love One Another
I’m not one for celebrating holidays, much to the chagrin of my family I’m sure. Each day is special to me. God planned me to be here now, in time and location, and is planning each of my steps. In my heart, every day is valuable, not one more than another. Yet here we are as a population celebrating the mighty realm of love, Valentine’s Day. Once more, we’re scampering in mind, pocketbook, and action to fulfill the obligated giving of gifts, failing to remember that to love one another is free.
At the risk of sounding negative or anti-commerce, I should note that I originally wrote this blog while sitting at a craft fair offering my books for sale to those who were scrambling to fulfill those obligations. In fact, I’d purchased prettily packaged chocolates from a neighbor vendor to give to my own loved ones.
It felt good to have supported a local library by renting craft space and supporting a local vendor who worked hard making the candies I purchased. The atmosphere on the back side of those craft tables was always one of comradery and support.
What Are We Celebrating?
Shall I highlight what we are celebrating on Valentine’s Day? Love. True and unconditional love. Deep, personal, and satisfying. Agape love. There is none truer than that which comes from the Lord. Let me encourage you to experience it throughout your every day. Let it flow, regardless of life’s circumstances. Don’t bottle it up. Expend it regularly.
God loves you so much that he took away your sins and offered you a treasure to give you strength and power to overcome, the Holy Spirit. When we focus on Christ, when we pull tight to Him and spend time and energies fed by this relationship, we grow. We grow in trust and faith. The deeper this relationship, the deeper we experience His amazing agape love for us. It fills and completes us, then overflows and is felt by others, whether we’re aware of it or not. It’s unconditional, caring, and compassionate. Such love does not judge but simply is present.
Can We Care About Those Who’ve Hurt Us?
Has someone wounded you, done the unforgivable, or is otherwise undeserving of your love? Do you struggle with how to offer it in the face of tragedy or abuse? Is it possible to love as God has asked? It is and you can!
God has called us to love one another, just as He has loved us. He wouldn’t suggest something that is impossible, but the impossible can only be possible with Him at our center. It can never be done through our own power, efforts, or training. Rather than looking at the impossible and trying to decipher how to accomplish it, look to Christ.
I don’t mean in an abstract or intellectual way. I mean really look to Him, talk with Him, focus on Him. Fill yourself with our Lord. Hold continued conversations with Him. When we focus on Him and fill our center with Him, His love, that unconditional, agape love, overflows and spills outward to others, even those we struggle to care for.
Love Makes Peace Spread
The answer to loving one another can only be found in a personal relationship with Christ. By getting to know Him, allowing Him to fill us with His qualities, and growing into a trust that transcends all fear, we are able to love one another…even our enemies. When we can love like that, peace will spread.
Happy Valentine’s to you and may God fill you to overflowing.
John 13:34-35, John 15:12, Romans 13:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:11