What True Love Is
February is almost exclusively known for Valentine’s Day and the theme of love. I recall my days of working for a floral distributor and supply company and can attest that it is the greatest of all hallmark holidays. It is a time when people attempt to show and display their feelings of love by giving flowers, jewelry, cards and candy. Second only to Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day sees more reservations in the restaurant business that any other time during the year.
According to Forbes Magazine, it is estimated that Americans will spend about 24 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day with an average person spending about $175 on Valentine’s gifts. In addition, people are willing to extend their debt load to buy such gift if they don’t have the money available on hand.
It makes me think about our expressions of love and how we measure our love towards others. With that thought, one might want to refer to the greatest love story of all times. Jesus loved humanity so much that he gave himself as a sacrifice so that we may have life and have it more abundantly. 1 John 4:9-10 says,
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
All throughout the Word of God, there is no greater expression of love than the love God has for us. When we look for a model for love, there is no greater example than what Jesus did for us on the cross in order to give us life. I like the way Psalm 63:3 expresses the love that God gives, which it is better than anything else we would ever have.
“My lips praise you because your faithful love is better than life itself!”
Furthermore, God sets the example in how we are to love one-another. Jesus says in John 13:34,
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
It is no mystery to how we are to love and care for each other. In the same manner that Jesus loves us, we need to love others. Before we asked, Jesus forgave. There was no cost too high that Jesus didn’t pay to give us salvation and everlasting life. Jesus left the comforts of heaven to save all of us. No inconvenience was too much trouble that he wasn’t willing to do to bring us home.
So as we look to celebrate Valentine’s Day and love, let’s remember what true love is and how it is experienced. It is more than a box of candy. It is greater than a dinner date. It is better than a vase full of roses and it’s finer than a piece of jewelry. The unconditional love that Jesus gave us and we give to each other is the best kind of love because that love is lived.