Valentine’s Day. A day of Love. We find it easy to share, to write love poems or songs, to give cards to those we love. However, since this is a somewhat universal celebration each year, maybe we should broaden our understanding of the meaning of love – as God would have us.
I read about a couple who shared a very special kiss. The story, in Brennan Manning’s book, Ragamuffin Gospel, describes a rather solemn scene between a surgeon and a young couple. A young woman is lying in the recovery room after a procedure to remove a tumor from her cheek. Unfortunately, the surgery severed a facial nerve and her lips are permanently skewed as a result. In a tender moment of acceptance, her husband bends down and repositions his lips to meet hers with precision. The physician witnesses their exchange and recognizes it as a God moment.
The image of the young husband contorting his mouth and twisting his lips for an intimate kiss with his palsied wife should grip our hearts. Consider how God symbolically did the very same thing for us when He fashioned Himself in the form of flesh and became “man” through the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. What a love story. The God of the universe bent down from Heaven, leaned toward mankind, and expressed His love to a very disfigured people. He contorted Himself (so to speak) in order to manifest His vast love to a fallen generation. How do we respond to such a beautiful expression of genuine love to handicapped humanity? We respond by recognizing we were created from the clay of the earth, by the hand of the Great Potter Himself.
Jesus condensed the Ten Commandments into two:
- "... love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." Mark 12:30 (NLT) [Jesus said,] "I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other." John 13:34 (NLT) He said the love we have for one another will prove to the world that we are his followers (John 13:35).
Once we experience God's lavish, unconditional love, the only reasonable response is to share that love with others.
Jesus also gave a command that appears illogical and impossible: "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.” Luke 6:27 (NLT)
Our natural tendency is to love only those who love us, which Jesus said is no credit to us. The selfless love He described can be expressed only with supernatural help from God's Spirit, but it offers the world an undeniable witness of God's transforming love and power.
If you have never known the unconditional love of this King, He
wants you to know that His desire has always been toward you and that even now,
He longs for your response. Most importantly, He wants you to know that His
kiss still works.
Maybe we should use February 14 to reach out to those who don't come to mind when we think of Valentine's Day.
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