Love
February 14, 2011 (Monday)
Valentine’s day is an annual celebration of love and affection. It gets its name from an individual known as Saint Valentine, an early Christian martyr. Perhaps its most recognizable trait is the paper Valentine, which is given to friends as well as intimate companions. The emergence of the day as we know it is shrouded in ambiguity but seemed to come into its own around 1800.
The one word that comes to mind when hearing the word, “Valentine,” is “Love.”
Love is something we all know about but when we look into the dictionary we are surprised to find so many ideas that seek to define it.
We usually think of love as a “feeling,” but the essence of love is really, “action.” Love is something we “do” much more often than something we “feel.”
Here is love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV).
Here also is love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV).