According to statisticbrain.com, the average Valentine’s Day spending is $13.19 Billion dollars for this day. They also report the number of Valentine cards exchanged annually is 180 million and the number of roses produced for Valentine’s Day is 196 million. The percentage of consumers who celebrate Valentine’s Day is 61.8%.
So with Valentine’s Day right around the corner everyone is going to be talking about love. What about you? Does it make you feel great to think about all of the people that you love? Does it make you feel squeamish and uneasy? Does it make you feel resentful or do you like to celebrate love and the loves in your life?
Why do we love? How do we love? What is love, really? Am I capable of loving?Am I worthy of being loved? Lets answer these questions so we can celebrate a real love, this season, deep in our hearts.
1 John 3:16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us.
1 John 4:7-11 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent his one and only Son into the world in order that we may live through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
The question of where does love come from is answered in 1 John 4. Love comes from God because God is Love. I love reading the words of John. John was one of Christ’s 12 apostles. John walked with Jesus, lived with Jesus, witnessed first hand all that He said and was while ministering here on earth. A first hand account and witness to the love of Christ is amazing to me. I have to wait to physically walk hand in hand with my Lord but John got to experience this first hand.
We are able to love, we are capable of love not because of who we are or what we are capable of doing but because of who God is and He is Love.
I recently had a conversation with my husband and I was telling him that I love him and the more I read God’s Word, the more I fall in love with Christ, the more I love him. That also pertains to my children.
I remember driving my kids to school one day and I was looking in the rear view mirror, you know the place where all things become more clear, and noticing all that I have with them. I was thinking, I was crabbing at them all the way out the door, so we are not late, and we get in the car and have all this anxiety around us from all the rushing. I just want to have joy and pure love for my beautiful children. I began praying for God to give me this joy and sure enough He shows me in His Word that He is Love and for me to experience this with my family I need to get closer to Him and He will show me how to love them more and be more loving because He is Love.
John tell us in chapter 3, we can know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. The greatest dmonstration of love came from Christ Himself. Does this mean that we have to die for Christ or die for our family to show them that we love them. No, what it means is that we give ourselves up for someone else when we love them. We give up our own lives for Christ. We surrender our life to Him so we can see and witness this love first hand.
I realize in the me centered society we live in, the idea of giving ourselves up for someone is a bit of a stretch for some and a far cry for others. What John is saying is this is how Christ showed His love for us and if we want to experience this kind of love we have to be able to put ourselves aside and put others in front of us. If you think that this statement is unrealistic look at the following statistic.
According to the same website, 53% of women would end their relationship if they didn’t get something for Valentine’s Day. Wow, Ladies!
I want to challenge you this holiday, male or female, because Valentine’s Day is usually centred around women, to give up your desires and try to think about the other people in your life and think of ways you love them and can show that love to them. Even if the gesture is not returned, you are putting yourself aside and taking the time to love others, first. Read more of 1 John and see how Christ put himself aside to love you. The greatest return on your love investment you will ever get.
Let us know how you are going to be spending this Valentine’s Day and let us know what the special things you do to show others you love them.
Thank you for your continued support, I love all of you and the support you have given to me and this ministry. Have an amazing week.
Nice work Jaime. I recently experienced the same thing with my children. I asked God to let me see my children through His eyes, with His love, and He answered my prayer. As I was helping them tie their shoes and do all the little daily tasks necessary to take care of your kids, I had an overwhelming sense of being blessed to be their mother. I felt that as I served their needs, I could see them through His loving eyes. I was getting a glimpse of what Christ did on earth – serving with humility and expecting nothing in return. What a joy as mothers to be able to experience a little bit of that.