Tomorrow is the day – Valentine’s Day! Single, dating, or married, we’re all thinking about love right now. But love is more than happy feelings, dates and romance, chocolates, and sweet cards. Jesus sets the standard for us. How? Read on for our next-to-last blogpost in this short series: Top Ten Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day (Every Day).
#1: Love means sacrifice.
You’ll find the word “love” used almost 700 times throughout the Bible. God is very clear to us that love is important, and that we know love because of Him.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” 1 John 3:16
Marriage takes work. Friendship can be difficult. Feelings rise and fall. But love is much deeper and broader than all of that. We know love because God loves us. We give love because God loves us. We follow Jesus by joining with Him in his sacrifice.
Take a few moments today to meditate on the depth and truth of love in Scripture:
- The entire book of 1 John is helpful and encouraging as we love others.
- Know the greatest commandments. Read Matthew 22:37-39
- There are 157 references to love in the Psalms! Psalm 31, Psalm 86, Psalm 100, Psalm 103, and certainly Psalm 136 – these are great places to start in prayer and praise.
- 1 Corinthians 13 is probably the most famous explanation of love known to man.
- John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 clearly show us that love is sacrifice. Memorize them.
- Praise God for who He declares Himself to be in Exodus 34:5-7 – he is “abounding in love and faithfulness.”
Call to Action:
Pray with your beloved today. Philippians 1:9-11 is a wonderful prayer for those we love, joining Paul as he prays for his friends in Philippi: