Everywhere I go I see hearts, balloons, chocolate and flowers. It is that time of the year. The time where love is in the air, everywhere I look around; love is in the air, every sight and sound. Then the Grinch comes out. Some people think I am a scrooge around Christmas which I maintain is completely not true, but I will admit that I have great disdain for Valentine’s Day. Most of which I blame my father for who is also a scrooge around the commercialized holiday. In fact one of my friends asked what I was doing for Valentine’s day this year and I maintained that I had no idea what he was talking about that I was going to be at home or at the gym like any normal night and I would not give into single’s awareness day.
That night I went home and like usual when I am a scrooge about something God came and convicted me. Apparently I was sleeping through the Sunday school lesson but God is all about love. In fact he is not just all about love and it’s not just one of his characteristics, but he is love. 1 John 4:7-12 says:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
God is all about Valentine’s Day just not necessarily the world’s version of it. God in fact does not want it to just be one day a year that we celebrate, but 365 days of the year. “In this is love…” God loved us long before we ever loved him, in fact verse 19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” It is only through the love of God that we have the ability to love God and love others. Most all of you know “the love chapter” of the Bible but go take a look at 1 Corinthians 13 again and meditate on the way God loves us and how we should love others as a result of that love.
This Valentine’s Day, do not be a scrooge. Take some time to love God and love someone else whether a friend, family member, significant other or a perfect stranger. Have a date night with God. When you love someone you spend time with them and not just time around other people, but one on one time. So light some candles put on some worship music and spend time getting to know God through his Word and in prayer. You no longer need to feel dateless this week you’ve got the best date there is a date with Love Himself.
Live Life Extraordinary,
Alayna
