Each year leading up to February 14, there is a rush, fueled by the chocolate and floral industries, to purchase candy and flowers for the ones we love the most. No flowers declare love more than the roses! But they are also the quickest to fade. The sentiments of Valentine's Day fade pretty quickly, too! The next day, the heart-shaped chocolates are marked down by 50%. To me, the Valentine experience says everything about the frailty and "best before date" of human love.

I am so glad that God's perfect love has no shelf life to worry about! The apostle John says it best:

1 John 4:17-21 – By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (NASB 1995)

As followers of Christ, we will survive judgment, but God wants so much more for us than confidence; He wants us to shine forth His truth in love! As we abide in Jesus and He in us, we take on His identity in our lives. Spiritually, we have His standing before God, not fully mature yet, but shining out that agreement with His truth and our love for each other.

The love of God is so different from what is promoted on Valentine's Day! "We love, because He first loved us" (v.19) is a powerful statement. Before the world existed, He loved each of us. Love comes from Him, and our love flows as a response to Him. We are saved by trusting in Jesus for sin's pardon by faith, and love is the fruit.

Buying a Valentine's Day gift for our loved ones is thoughtful and kind, but we are commanded to love our brothers and sisters in Christ much more. We are His disciples, and we are to love others as He did. Can you learn to love God, Whom you can't see, by loving His children, whom you can see?

Oh, how He loves you and me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.
He gave His life — what more could He give?
Oh, how He loves you,
Oh, how He loves me,
Oh, how He loves you and me.
       – Kurt Kaiser

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that we love because You first loved us. Amen.