As I am sitting & writing this in a quaint coffeehouse, someone is carrying an entourage of red and pink balloons from a secret admirer up the street. I softly smile at this giddy person who has been gifted with an act of love. Through the coffeehouse window reflections, I noticed my phone is blowing up with friends gushing over their offers to go on a romantic date.

  Today is a special day.

Valentine’s Day. A holiday of differing perspectives. I have met people who lavish this holiday and I have met people who absolutely despise it. Love is in the air. Love is packed and piled inside stores, kids are gushing over their cards to give to classmates, and TV channels are filled with romantic comedies. This holiday month brings about a season of love, everywhere. 

 For some, Valentine’s Day seems like an overrated scam. It is simply just another ordinary day. Why celebrate? Maybe Valentines Day makes some hearts feel undeserving of love. Maybe hearts feel belittled on this holiday because they have seen the damage of imperfect love. Maybe hearts have been rejected and swallowed by the desperation of singleness. Maybe some think Valentine’s Day isn’t worth celebrating since we should always love each other to the fullest attention and effort every single day. 

Well perhaps we shouldn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day as a worldly celebration, but rather as a special day to reflect on the deep and vast love of our Lord.

"Together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:18-19, NIV)."

 Let me present a challenging thought for those who love or hate Valentine’s Day. Your relationship status doesn’t define you because you have the Lord within you. Being single with a heart-seeking tender partnership with the Lord is the most momentous relationship that ever could exist. I challenge you to not follow the beat of the world. The world’s example of Valentine’s Day is temporary.

 It lasts for 24 hours, on February 14th. I urge you to make Valentine’s Day a day to reflect upon the definition of love from our heavenly Father. 

 Savor the Lord’s love today. 

This isn’t about whether Valentine’s is a day to celebrate or be bitter about…. May I declare something over you today? Regardless if it’s another ordinary day for you or your favorite day of the year… There is something more to Valentine’s Day than romance. I pray that today is a beautiful reminder that you are so loved. So as the day fills with red and pink splattered across rooms, heart-shaped balloons floating in the air as they are being brought in and out of spaces, and as Valentine’s cards are passed back and forth– I just want this day to be a revealing reminder of the heavenly love we are freely given. So I challenge you today to not be grossed out by the sappy teenage love, or roll your eyes, annoyed because someone got a surprise from a secret admirer that everyone knows. Because there is a permanent love fabricated within us as children of God. 

Take the day to embrace the love of God. We should always give thanks, celebrate Jesus, and embrace love every single day of the year. Sure, you walk through the aisles of Target, and it is decorated in all things, modern love. You bake heart-shaped cookies and pour Hersey kisses into jars, and your kitchen is filled with culinary love. Sure, you turn on TV channels and indulge in cinematic love. You walk the hallways of a school, it’s full of decorative love. Sure, you scroll through social media, it’s embedded with pictures of sappy love.  It is not just about Valentine’s as a holiday, but it can also be about the free reminders of God’s love.

Love is boldly taking place in the air, but take a day like this to remind yourself of the permanent love that is extending and reaching you from the heavenly realms.  God is love. Love fills pages & pages of the Bible and you need to let those intimate words seep into the essence of your rhythmic life. Our Lord is admiring us. And He’s no secret admirer. Traces of His love are transparently displayed all around us. He admires His creation and loves His children. His design and creation of you were motivated by His agape love for us. 

The Bible is the greatest love story written for you & your heart. 

A perfect Son came down to die for our sins. He is so perfect, not a single blemish. Not a single fault. Not a single error. Not a single wrongdoing. Yet He endured the cross for you and me out of perfect love. Jesus came and died for you and me. That is better than any Romeo and Juliet love story. Better than every rom-com I know of. Jesus endured the most humiliating and excruciating death on the cross to SAVE us from our deadly sins and poisonous, fleshy desires. That is a love story that wins heavenly Oscars and a standing ovation that never ever ends.

 Jesus is pure love, a love that will never fail or leave us. Jesus stays with us in this never-ending love beyond days like today, Valentine’s day. 

Romans 5:8 (NIV)  “But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Bible is the greatest love story to ever exist.  Pages are filled with love letters, proving to you that you are so WORTHY of love. You are so loved by our Father, so much so that He has woven you with His own hands, and sent His one and only son to die for us. You have full permission and authority to romanticize your life after knowing the truth of Jesus. I dare you to encapsulate love in all forms today & every day, for the One who created you loves you beyond what the words on this webpage could ever say. 

So…

1 John 4:12 (NIV)

 “ No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.”

Smile. Hug. Pass an act of Love. Not just for the sake of worldly Valentine’s Day, but because we are called to love by God Himself. Whether it’s our family members, friends, teachers, neighbors, romantic partners, or even a stranger, we are called to love people as Jesus loves them.  Inwardly embrace the love of our heavenly Father and outwardly radiate love every day for others. Spread that love today. 

Hebrews 13:1-2 (NIV)

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

Much love to you all.

With all my heart,

Haley

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