The Greatest of These

St. Valentine was martyred for marrying couples, did you know that? At least that's how one of the legends goes. The Romans decided to ban marriage for their soldiers during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Valentine went against the ban and married couples. Other stories say Claudius asked Valentine to renounce his faith and when he didn't, had Valentine beaten and beheaded. It was several centuries later before Feb. 14 was declared Valentine's Day and nearly a millennium before celebration of the date began with love notes.

For a fellow who had a soft spot for love and marriage, Valentine's Day is worth celebrating. Hearts, red and pink clothes, mushy words of love and romantic dates are great ways to celebrate love. When Daddy and I dated in college we always put Valentine notes in the newspaper to each other. We've gotten a card for each other every year and tried to celebrate the in some romantic way.

We are particularly happy that we celebrate a holiday dedicated to love. Since God is love (1 John 4:8) and we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19), we wanted to take a good look at what exactly God expects from us with regards to it. So we're taking a look at 1 Corinthians 13, the Love Chapter. Hoping Ayla doesn't roll her eyes here. Her opinion is that this chapter is overused at weddings, and it is read quite often, but you cannot discount the beautiful words about love that Paul uses here. The whole chapter is wonderful. In verses 4-9 he writes:

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."

Then it concludes in verse 13: "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love." It's poetic and weighty at the same time. It shows our Father's value on love (not to mention His insistence that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as our self - Matt.22:38-39). Love is required of us as Christians. And love between a husband and wife is a beautiful example of how Christ loved the church. True love exhibits the patience, kindness, rejoicing, truth and hope listed above. It is something we strive for. 1 John 3:11 says, "For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." It's the message God has tried to impart on us when the world began.

On Valentine cards, you will see pictures of tiny naked, winged baby Cupid's with little arrows taking aim at hearts on behalf of love. While Cupid (a Roman mythological god) is obviously not in Scripture and nothing like the Cherub angels in the Bible, the premise of taking aim for love is Biblical. 1 Corinthians 14:1 says, "Let love be your greatest aim." So aim directly at the heart, take it seriously and love as Christ intended ... the way He did.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Discussion: What attributes of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13 do you need to work on? Take a moment right now to tell your fiance what you love about him/her.

Prayer: Father, we rejoice with you that a holiday has been set aside to celebrate love. May we, Father, show that love to one another with depth Christ did. We love you, Lord God, and thank you for your steadfast love that endures forever. (Psalm 136).