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Valentine’s Day—it’s All About Love Series
Contributed by Dr. Lewis W. Gregory on Feb 7, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Tradition has it that Valentine was a third century martyr who demonstrated his love through his life and sacrificial death. We all should aspire to this kind of love. When we love God with all our heart we can enjoy God's unconditional, sacrificial love.
We all need love; we all want love. We crave it; we work hard for it, yet all too often we come up short. There is only one kind of love that truly satisfies the deepest needs of the human heart. There is only one kind of love that actually makes a difference. There is only one kind of love that really lasts. And that love is God’s love: unselfish, sacrificial, self-giving! In 1 John 4:8 we are told that, “God is love.” Since love is who God is, then love is what God does. It’s His nature to love. Love is the very essence of His being. Love is God!
God’s love is amazing! According to 1 Corinthians 13, God’s love is always gentle and kind, never self-seeking or self-serving. Love bears all, believes all, hopes all, and endures all. Love is everlasting, and ever giving. God’s love never fails!
In John 3:16 we discover that God loved the world so much it compelled Him to give the very best, His only begotten Son. God gave the Son of His love—Jesus Christ. And that is the greatest gift of all! Christ gave His life for us (His sacrificial death upon the cross), so that He might give His life to us (His resurrection life resident in us), in order that He might give His life through us. You can’t out give God, but you can certainly give out of the love of God as your source.
Once you receive the Source of Love, Jesus Christ the Lord, you can be filled with the love of God. Then the fruit of the Spirit, which is Love, can pour out of you. You will be able to love everyone—the lovely, the unlovely, and the unlovable—with God’s unconditional, unquenchable, unending love. As you let the love of God abound in your life, every day will be Valentine’s Day for you!
“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” Isaac Watts
Lewis Gregory © 2012
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