Valentine’s Day is a lovely day to show your appreciation and love for those you love. The holiday is perhaps most beloved by Hallmark and Kay Jewelers. However, love entails so much more than simply exchanging cute cards and fancy jewelry once a year. Love is something we can see and experience every day. What is love, you ask?
Love is when I visited my boyfriend’s grandmother in a nursing home every week in my early twenties. Every week, I would take her out to lunch at the local diner, and every week, I would listen to her sing Dean Martin songs that were playing on the table juke box.
Love is holding my children in my arms for the first time after they were born, then watching my son and daughter grow into beautiful, God-loving adults. Love is bringing home a puppy for my children at Christmas and, fifteen years later, crying our eyes out when she passed away.
Love is my friend, Raquel, who slept on a reclining chair next to me for two nights to help me through my anxiety after surgery. It’s also my friend, Pam, who sent me the most delicious cookies from California in order to thank me for helping to edit her book.
Love is my husband choosing to accompany me to a party or a movie that he really isn’t interested in attending or seeing. It’s when he holds my hand or kisses my forehead in spite of the fact that he knows other people are watching. Love is when my daughter passes up a big opportunity in order to be available to help me with my latest project at work.
Love is when I see an elderly couple holding hands or when I see young children walking into church with their parents. Love is covering a multitude of sins, extending grace and forgiveness, and giving affection unconditionally.
When you are a child, Valentine’s Day is all about fun. It’s about making a shoebox and opening all the handmade cards that you’ve received from your classmates. It’s about cutting red and pink heart-shaped cards out of construction paper and decorating them with white paper trim. It’s about eating candy hearts and delicious chocolates. But in reality, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of something far more profound than these fun activities: pure love. Encourage your children and grandchildren to become living examples of love as it is defined for us 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: “Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast; it is not proud. It does not dishonor others; it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs.” Teach your children that loving Jesus changes the heart and that His love will endure long after the candy and the cards are gone. Here is a link with some great ideas from Bright Horizons on how to teach children to express love in a meaningful way: https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/true-love-on-valentines-day
I pray that you will find the pure love that lasts for all eternity, the love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I also pray that you will learn to express His love in both the small and large moments of this life. May the love of our Heavenly Bridegroom transform your heart and the hearts of those around you this Valentine’s Day!
Thank you for these great reminders. We have the opportunity to love someone in some way every day.