Photo Credit: www.cornerhouseblog.com

It is Valentine’s Weekend.  I am grateful to God for my Valentine. But some people dread Valentine’s Day when they don’t have a romantic partner. Originally, Valentine’s Day was a celebration of public religious worship in honor of at least one Christian martyr named Valentinus. Only in the High Middle Ages when “courtly love flourished” during the time of Geoffrey Chaucer, the Father of English literature did Valentine’s Day get popularized as a couple thing.  But Valentine’s Day, also known as Love Day has its roots on Christian love.

It’s as easy as pie to utter “I love you” to a mousse, some shoes, or an arbitrary person you choose. But genuine love is not a whim. It does not refer to the teenage fluttering of the heartbeat or  the physiological arousal response that makes a man cry, “I looove youuuu!!”

Love is a decision, an act of the will to choose to do what’s best for a person, even one who doesn’t deserve it.  When someone asked Jesus who is the neighbor to love as oneself, Jesus replied by telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) of going all the way in helping a person who is traditionally thought of to be opposed to your own kind.  Jesus taught that we are to love even our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43). In John 13,  Jesus showed “the full extent of His love” by His example of servant leadership.  Whereas the servant is tasked to wash people’s hands, Jesus went lower by washing His disciples’ feet, including those of Judas who would betray Him.  Believers are called to be pass-through channels of this love. But first, we must receive His love daily because we can only give what we have. God is our Unli-Love-Source. He Himself is love (1John 4:8)

If this Valentine Weekend, you are one of the millions around the world who do not have a romantic Valentine and are feeling bad about it, there is a promise which may uplift you.  In Hebrews 12:26-27 which Pastor Joey Bonifacio calls The Promise That No One Wants (I found my copy at Victory Christian Fellowship Fort Bonifacio bookstore http://www.victoryfort.org)

Heb 12:26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”^[e] 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

The verse reminds us that there is nothing and no one we can hold on to in this life. These “shakeable things” (inclusive of people) that we put our hope in or hold on to apart from God can be and will be shaken from us so that we can recognize and put God and His kingdom, (what is unshakeable) in the rightful place in our lives.

Make no mistake. You are preciously loved!

There is no greater love than Jesus’s love for you.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

God loves us unconditionally, dying for us even when we were opposed to Him.

Rom 5:8: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God’s love is everlasting. It will not fade or end.

Jer 3:b “I have loved you with an everlasting love”

God, the Lover of Your Soul, does not change. He does not flipflop from day to day.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
God’s love is holy and righteous, not selfish and distorted

If you belong to Jesus, it is Valentine’s Day the whole year through! Happy Valentine’s Year!  You are God’s Beloved Valentine!