Post-Valentine's Day Love
Reported by Elizabeth Hoyt
On Feb. 14, millions of people around the world celebrated St. Valentine’s Day. The special day came with displays of love and affection, flowers and cards, chocolates and sentimental gifts. Perhaps you went to a fancy dinner with a significant other, or maybe you hung out some with friends. Or, like a good college student, you decided to use the convenient “mid-semester holiday” to catch up on all that homework.
Whatever the case, Valentine’s Day 2020 is now a thing of the past. The momentary displays of love have now died down a little, and we are forced to wait an entire year before heart-shaped chocolates and cute Valentine’s Day cards hit the stores again.
But just because Valentine’s Day has ended doesn’t mean that love has to. Unlike the sometimes-giddy emotions that Valentine’s Day can bring, God’s love for us is never-ending. He won’t stop loving us no matter what we do or what time of our lives we’re in. We should take the love that God so abundantly gives us and reflect it back to those around us. That is what Christianity should look like—showing real love to everyone, even when we’re not feeling those happy Valentine’s Day jitters.
I Corinthians 13:4-8 tells us what God’s love is like and what our love for others should look like too:
Love is patient-- even when you’re at your wit’s end with someone.
Love is kind-- even when you’re tired and stressed out.
Love does not envy-- even when someone less qualified gets the position you wanted.
Love does not boast-- even when you ace the exam.
Love is not proud-- even when you think you deserve the credit.
Love does not dishonor others-- even when they do something dishonorable themselves.
Love is not self-seeking-- even when you want to insist that something be done your way.
Love is not easily angered-- even when someone gets on your nerves.
Love keeps no record of wrongs-- even when the list could get longer and longer.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth-- even when the truth is hard.
Love always protects-- even when that person doesn’t seem worth defending.
Love always trusts-- even when you can’t imagine a positive outcome.
Love always hopes-- even when you’ve been let down a million times.
Love always perseveres-- even when you feel like you can’t be going through something worse.
Love never fails-- even when you think you have failed, even when you think someone else has failed, even when you think God has failed-- Love never fails.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if that was the way we lived on campus? Imagine if we took these fifteen statements God gave us and showed them to those we came across day to day. This is how God, who is love, acts toward us. His love is deep, immeasurable, and eternal. Let’s not let love end on Valentine’s Day—let’s keep it alive for the rest of this semester and see how it changes us and how God can use it.