Happy Valentine’s Day

There is no better definition of love.

Today, many of us will exchange flowers, cards, candies, and hundreds of expressions of love.

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as the Feast of Saint Valentine, a day to honor a third-century martyr, a Bishop who had been killed for his Christian faith.

Over the centuries, aspects of the story became both mythical and legendary, and created what we have now, a day to celebrate love.

While its historical origins are important, having a day to honor love seems like a very wonderful idea. Not only does the Bible declare that the greatest of all virtues is love, but there is little doubt, that love is also one of the greatest gifts that we can offer one another.

At the most critical moment in history, God stepped out of eternity to become a man. He did it to save me and you, and all of the rest of those of us who would call upon his name, from our own sins that would otherwise separate us from Him for eternity.

Two thousand years ago, in the greatest act of love, God sent his son to die on a cross, to pay the price for my sins and yours. The Bible states it this way, “God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The book of Romans chapter 5 verse 8.

Dear brother or sister in Christ, or friend along life’s journey, I hope you enjoy today. And if today is a hard day for you because you mourn the loss of loved ones or struggle with loneliness, I want to encourage you to take comfort in knowing that Christ, the source of all love, loved you enough to die for you. I’ll be writing a number of posts this week, in honor of a very special event in our history, and will have more on Isaiah 40 next weekend!

Beyond any doubt, because of the reality of our amazing God, and his deep love for us, there is no better definition of love.