On a day when people celebrate love, let us be reminded of the true origin of love.
Written by
Contented Breadcrumb
2 min read
Valentine’s Day - A day when people in the world celebrate love, when sales of flowers and chocolates rise, when many couples specially choose to spend quality time together.
As Christians, instead of following the practices of the world, which encourage us to indulge in fleshly desires and carry the risk of leading to sinful acts, let us be reminded of the true origin of love - God.
“God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16b)
Without God, there is no love. Love is not just saying a simple “I love you”, or gifting chocolates and a hundred roses to someone, but it is about sacrifice.
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
Before we were born, before we even knew God, God already loved us. Hence, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, into the world to die on the cross for all our sins. He did it because He loved us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)
How then should we respond to His love?
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)
Because God first loved us, therefore we love one another. We sacrifice for one another, be it our time, our energy, perhaps even our lives.
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
However, other than acts of sacrifice, love also has to be grounded in the truth.
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:2)
If we love God, if we love the children of God, then we will also keep His commandments, the truth written in the Bible, the Word of God.
Furthermore, the love of man - parental love, brotherly love, romantic love, all these will one day come to an end. It is only the love of God, the love between man and God, which will last eternally.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
May our love for God endure forever.
