“And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13
Focusing on love is a great thing any time of the year, but February seems to be an especially apt time. Of course, this is due to the scheduling of Valentine’s Day, which society has expanded way beyond the feast of St. Valentine. The world seems to be always taking church things and making them into something else (although it’s hard to be mad about something that involves chocolate and roses). And it is never a bad thing to prioritize love. I would just like to celebrate love in many different forms and not just that of romantic relationships. Love is so much bigger than that!
The world wants Valentine’s Day to be about romance, but it started out as a feast day of an early church martyr, who wrote letters of encouragement to other Christians afraid for their lives. He would write notes reminding people that God loves them. In this day and age, none of us have to fear being literally fed to lions like the early Christians, but I know that many of us are going through some tough things. And whereas romance can be nice, I think the challenges of our world require something more. We need love in Godly proportions.
The bible is actually full of beautiful passages on love. Passages that can remind us of God’s love and passages that encourage us to love others. In fact, there are more than enough to read verses every single day in February. They are included below, but I will also post them on our church Facebook page. Then you could share them to your own pages and spread the love of God to all your friends and family. Maybe this month, the love of God could go viral instead of misinformation, hateful speech, and toxicity.
If you don’t do Facebook (or even if you do), you can also make traditional Valentine’s Day cards using the bible verses and your own words of encouragement. Send them to your kids, grandkids, friends, pastor :), or anyone else you care about!
