Loved and Loving

It’s Valentine's Day.  Last year, about $14,000,000,000 (yes, that’s billion) was spent celebrating love and romance. Interestingly, about 60% of that amount was spent by men.  The young are more cynical about cards and roses with 45% of people under 34 years of age foregoing those traditional gifts.

The day came to us from the Christian calendar, the feast of St. Valentine. Who he was and what he did are hidden in legend, but we think that Valentine was a martyr of Rome who died for ministering lovingly to other Christians in defiance of the emperor’s edict.

One legend about Valentine says that he a third century Christian priest who believed strongly in marriage at a time when there was much immorality.  The Roman emperor forbade young men to marry, believing that an unmarried man made a better soldier for the empire. Valentine resisted this injustice and conducted marriages in secret. He was caught and eventually executed. True or not, we need that kind of bold love in our world, don’t we? 

Jesus defines genuine “love” for us in a profound sentence – “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John15) How do we do that? We choose to put the needs of another above our own. We sacrifice our advantage to raise another up. We ‘die to Self.’  I pray that Christ will make me a man who loves; wholly and selflessly. 

Love is far more than romance. Jesus was not ashamed to tell a room full of men, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." (John 15:9-14, NIV)  

Let’s aspire to love in that way so that our words and actions will make love a reality for many, with the hope that ultimately they will see the Great Lover and be healed!

Christian love is an other-focused way of life that actively attempts to serve, to care, to be involved.  Those who love this way enrich others and are made richer. When we love in a Spirit-inspired way, people will take note and Jesus said the quality of our love will be THE mark that we belong to Him.

There will be multiple motivating factors for gifts of chocolates, roses, or jewelry today. 
Some will be 'pay-offs. ‘
Some will be given in the hope of winning an advantage. 
Sad to say, many roses will be sent by dutiful husbands just because 'it's the right thing to do.' 
And yes, I believe that many of those gifts and cards will be exchanged with the heart-felt desire to say – “I love you!”

Whatever you do or don’t do, I hope you know what it is to love and be loved. Nothing in this world feeds the soul more than love.  The truest love is far greater than a sentimental card, a vase of flowers, or a box of chocolates.  The best love says “you are a person of great worth to me” - taking note of another’s place, offering gifts of service, speaking or writing words of affirmation, giving encouragement. – to name a few.

Meditate on this today - "This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” (John 13:35, The Message)

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

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(Video of this blog at this link)

“I’ve had enough, I’m done!”

Like millions of Americans, I watched the SuperBowl last night and saw the KC Chiefs get shut-down.  Well into the game that team couldn’t find a way to move the ball. Their quarterback, Mahomes, was knocked down repeatedly, threw interceptions, and struggled visibly without much protection.  

I wonder what he’s thinking today?  Is some part of him saying “I’ve had enough?” or is he such a competitor that he is already planning a comeback?

Most of us, at some time in our lives when we have found ourselves so beaten up, overwhelmed, or disappointed that we are ready to say, 'I’ve had enough!'  Who has not felt the temptation to just get in the car and drive away, leaving 'the problem' in our rearview mirror.

When we are accused of ulterior motives, or frustrated by inaction of others, or even disappointed in our own choices, the temptation find ‘greener pastures’ can grow strong.  Don’t do it!

The worst time to make a decision for the future is when we are discouraged, frustrated, or angry! The pithy wisdom of Proverbs says, "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." (Proverbs 16:25, NLT) The course of action that 'makes so much sense' now, may look quite foolish a month from now when the pressure has let up.

Looking back over my life, I can see so many times when the greatest ‘wins’ came out of the renewed determination that followed the worst disappointments.

There are times when a strategic retreat is in order. When we are up against an unyielding foe, when nothing is going right, when everything we try to do meets with opposition- there's not a thing wrong with taking a breather. When we step away, for a day of prayer or take a week's vacation for renewal, it helps us to regain perspective. A prayer retreat, where we get alone with our thoughts and God, letting it all out with a flood of words (and maybe some tears, too), can help to restore us to effectiveness.

Never forget that when we come to the end of ourselves, God’s resources remain inexhaustible and, if we will trust Him and go steady on, He can accomplish amazingly wonderful things.

Remember Paul’s confession? He was knocked down, beat up, and rejected so many times in his work for Christ. There is so much encouragement in his honest assessment- “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”  (2 Corinthians 1)

Are you ready to walk off today,
concluding you are ‘not enough’
or that the situation is beyond redemption?

Find a way to do a strategic retreat.
Find an honest confidante, not someone who will just tell you that you're right, who will help you unravel the knots.
Go silent for a while, take a ride, go for a walk.
Give yourself time to regain reason.

The word from the Word comes from the writing of James. "So let endurance grow, for when it is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." (James 1:4-6, NLT)

Steady on, trusting God. He has a plan and a purpose!