A well-known craft store sent out its advertisement with the catchy phrase, “Cupid’s Last Call.” “Does Cupid not call past February 14th?” I mused.
“Does love come knocking on any other day of the year?”
I would certainly hope so.
Valentine’s Day, with splashes of pink and hearts struck through with arrows, shouts out the opportunity to tell those dear to us, “I love you.” Many a spouse, fiancé, parent or child will receive some tangible expression of love on that day: a card, flowers, chocolates, or a dinner by candlelight. Such tokens of love may seem trivial, but are powerfully given when the genuineness of love motivates the gift. It is an intentional act of kindness.
Perhaps the intentionality of it is the very thing that makes the receiver feel so valued. On the other hand, the expectant but neglected individual feels sadly forgotten and unfulfilled.
But isn’t that what love is? Intentional? Love is an action, not a feeling. Feelings come and go. Love remains. Love finds a way to express itself and cannot be contained.
Ask a new bride how it makes her feel when her beloved searches for her favorite mango-flavored ice cream because she grew up in South America and he knows the smile it will put on her face.
Ask a wayward son what it means to have his father take an all-night flight and show up at his bedside in an incensed-drenched, shamble-shack in India.
God was intentional in His love toward us.
He “demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Can there be any greater example of love than this?
He asks us to be deliberate in our love toward each other. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” Is there someone to whom you could show an act of kindness today?
1 John 3:16 “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18
Cupid’s last call may be on February 14th, but God’s love for us is eternal, through the gift of His Son.
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:3
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for loving me so completely and sacrificially. Thank you that your love for me will never end. Please help me to be more intentional in my love for those You have put in my life. Amen We can choose to love any day of the year.
by Gwen Klontz
used by permission
Related Reading
♥ Valentine, How do I love thee?
♥ Valentine’s Day Brings Back that Lovin’ Feeling by Rusty Wright
♥ Love for a Lifetime by Karen Woodard