Let me tell you a love story

I have said before that Valentines Day is one of my least favorite holidays.  I am not religiously opposed to the saint that was credited for the celebration and I am certainly not against love. I have always appreciated chocolates, candies, jewelry, and flowers but I need to know I am loved not just on Tuesday, February 14th but on the Monday before, the Tuesday after and everyday in between.  Without all of the day-in day-out gestures of love and appreciation and affection I don't think the three pounds of Russell Stovers chocolates would be anything more than my next cavity. 

If you asked me for a love story I might tell you of about a man nearing 70 years old who married when he was not much more than a child. For decades he has stood tightly to a bride that suffers from life altering mental illness because he said in front of God and family that he would.

I might share a story about a young preacher who one week prior to meeting the love of his life surrendered to God the search for his one and only. 

I might tell you about the last time I saw my daddy stand on his own and how he shook as he wrapped his arms around my mother.

I could tell you how a self-professed but now sober alcoholic found his happily ever after on Match.com.

I might tell you about the friend who at 40 years old said 'I do!' to her best friend. 

I likely would tell you about the engagement ring that my mother-in-law hocked to buy gifts for her boys the first Christmas after their daddy died.

There are many love stories all around us.

I remember several year ago when Stacey was barely in school we had a Valentine picnic. We spread a big black and red checked blanket on the floor upstairs where we ate pizza and played a silly game I named, "if love were..."

If love were a food it would be.....pizza. We all gave different answers.  If love were a flower it would be a .....rose.  If love were a color it would be....red.  That seems simple enough but let's stretch it a little.  What if love were a roadway? Some might say a black top while others might say the autobahn and still others might say a dirt road up the steep side of a mountain.  If love were a bird it would be a red headed wood pecker to me but to you maybe a majestic eagle or a beautiful swan that started off as the ugly duckling. 

Try these: 

If love were a car it would be a....

If love were an animal it would be a.....

If love were a beverage it would be a....

If love were an ice cream it would be sprinkled with...

If love were a piece of furniture it would be a....

If love were a place it would be.....

If love were a body function it would be a....

A hug! 

Ok, maybe it's just getting silly now. Truthfully we can make rhymes of metaphors and riddles of love similes all day long for fun but we don't define love. Love is defined for us not by us in 1 Corinthians 13. From the God that is love through the pen of the apostle Paul we have a very clear definition of love through a list of what it is and what it ain't.  

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-6.

Levi and Melody used this scripture beautifully in their wedding a few years ago but I think my favorite picture of Love from the Bible comes from Matthew's gospel. In the 22nd chapter Jesus is being quizzed by the Pharisees then the Saducees and then again by the Pharisees.  Finally the lawyer asked him to tell them which was the great commandment. Jesus declared the first and great commandment, as instructed in the Old Testament, to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, your soul and your mind; with all you have.  And though the Pharisee didn't ask for the top two that is exactly what Jesus gave him when he said, the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself.  

What I love about this scripture is the visual of love.  If we love the Lord with all we have we create a vertical connection to God or more importantly he creates a connection with us. When we love our neighbors, those that walk this planet amongst us, we intersect that with a horizontal line forming a cross. That is the true symbol of love. Remember that God so loved the world that he sent his son to hang on that cross. That is a cross we should pick up daily; Love God, love others.  

Celebrate true love!