Moving past hearts and roses

Valentine's Day. I'd like to venture that this is one of the most contentious holidays out there. You either love it (no pun intended) or hate it. And then there are those those that just ignore it. Now if it really is a holiday to celebrate romance and mushy feelings than I'm not all too keen on it. But, if it is a day to remind us about love and the ones we love than I'm all for that because sometimes in the midst of our lives and all the things going on in them we neglect to take a moment to really reflect on the quality of love, the action of love, and the ones that we love and are loved by.

Now I could write a book on love, oh wait I'm pretty sure that other people have done that and with much more insight and wisdom. But have they really? Love is a tricky topic because you have to define what type of love you are referring to, is it the love of a man for a woman, a friend to a friend, an owner to a pet, a mother to a son, a woman for her ice cream, etc? At least that's the way the world looks at it at times, love is the ultimate accessory, it goes with everything. But is that what love really is?

Is love born of romance or romance born of love? Is love always pretty and sweet? Is love always the response of love or can it sometimes stand alone in the midst of hate and anger? Is love a feeling, an emotion, an action, or a myth?

What is love? (wait that sounds like a song from the early 90's)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4: 7-12

Hmmm interesting. . . . how about this?

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13: 1-7,13

So I ask again what is love?

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

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

And lastly what do we do with this love?

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Matthew 22:37-39

I just looked back to see what I posted last year on this date. Ironic how your own words can challenge, encourage, and take your breath away. He loves me