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February can be a challenging month. I know that this has been true for me personally. There are seasons that I have felt neutral about Valentine’s Day and not really understanding what all the fuss is about. There have been years when I’ve wept due to the yet unmet desires I had in my heart. There are some years that I have been so excited and giddy for what the day holds.
No matter where you find yourself, I think it’s important for us to keep the source of all love at the forefront of our minds as we navigate whatever feelings we are experiencing this February. Here are my favorite bible verses to encourage you this Valentine’s Day.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
I have heard this so many times that it can be easy to gloss over the meaning. When I stop and pause to think that God so loved ME he sent his one and only Son to die for my sins on a cross to restore me to the Father, I can start to sense the gravity of how loved I am by God.
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. (Psalm 139:13-14)
I love that God is a God of details. It’s unfathomable to understand how he is in the details for all people who he has called by name to Himself. Sometimes it can be more comfortable to think about God in a far off place reigning on high than it is for me to be intimately known by Him. Yet, that’s the relationship we have access to. An intimate, loving relationship with a Good Father who cares about all things big and small in our lives.
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Because God is a God of details, He knows all things. Again it can feel more comfortable to keep God at arms length and to only let Him see the things I want Him to see. Yet, knowing all that God knows about you and me and the rest of humanity, he sent His Son to redeem us all.
What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of the mgoes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
This parable has deep meaning for me. When I focus on my circumstances and feelings, I can feel that I’m abandoned, forgotten, alone. Yet, in Jesus’ parable he tells us of the Father’s pursuit of us. He is willing to recklessly pursue us at great personal cost.
Praise the God of Heaven, for his mercy endures forever. (Psalm 136:26)
I love Psalm 136. It reads as a litany of how God has demonstrated his mercy and love throughout history and continues to do so because His mercy endures forever. People let us down. When that happens it hurts. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. It can be easy to see God through the lens of our wounds. Yet, God’s love is unfailing. It is perfect. It cannot fail us because that is not consistent with God’s character. When people let us down, let us run to the Father and his unfailing love.
[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:7-8)
1 Corinthians 13 is known for it’s description of love. Love is patient. Love is kind.. It isn’t rude. It is not self-seeking and it concludes with this verse. When we feel like we can’t bear our burdens, the love that we have with our family, fellow believers and God helps us bear all things. When the world tells us it would be silly to believe and hope, love tells us differently. Love endures all things and it never fails. This is the love we are gifted from God and are then called to extend to others.
If you are someone that needed to hear these verses to remind yourself of how loved you are, I hope you experience that truth deeply. If you are filled with the love of God I hope that you are able to share it with others and be there to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things as a sign of God’s love in the world.