SCRIPTURE: So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV
THOUGHT: What would constitute the perfect valentine?
This holiday, like every other holiday in our modern world, gets tinged with marketing manipulation, corporate greed, and things that always go too far trying to be “fresh.” It becomes more about a show and less about love.
The perfect valentine is one who knows you inside-out and loves you anyway. He or she knows the contours of your heart and blesses you with a word or gift that shows that wisdom. It doesn’t have to be expensive – it just has to say, “I see you and I know you and I love you and I’m here for you.”
That’s God’s kind of love, agape, the greatest love, and while we all can practice it, we can never be perfect at it on this side of glory. Only God is perfect in love, so let’s imitate it as best we can today, all the while remembering that something God is preparing for us will outstrip any way we’ve ever felt known or loved before: all our faith and all our hopes will turn to sight – we will see him as he is, and know him as we are already known. Love will remain, and we’ll be ready to really live.
SONG:
The clouds are clearing, the sun is shining
Glimpses of heaven are clearer to me, and
I’d love to be perfect and astonishing Jesus
But it’s gratitude that I feel … for the chance toLive, really live, without fear or regret
Amy L. Clemens, Live, 10.4.23
Clouding my vision of you
Without stumbling and falling becoming the whole
Of everything that is true
You hear and forgive and I’ll be in awe as
You take my hand and help me to stand and
Live, really live, with you
PRAYER: Oh God, today I’m thinking more of the joys of heaven than I am expecting something or someone here on earth to make me feel as if I’ve had a perfect Valentine’s Day. I’m grateful for the love you’ve blessed me with here and now, but it is only a shadow of the love I will live in forever the day you take my hand and help me stand.
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