Will You Be My Valentine?

Americans spend over 14 billion dollars on Valentine's Day gifts every year.  That's a lot of money!  People all over America are buying gifts for friends, family - and the very special people in their lives.  Certainly a lot of attention is given to the holiday celebrating love.

The world would give all kinds of definitions if you asked what "love" is.  But only the Bible has the solid meaning of real love.  "By this we know love," the apostle John wrote, "that he [Jesus Christ] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers" (1 John 3:16).  Author, speaker, and apologist Voddie Baucham has written a definition of love drawn from biblical principles: "Love is an act of the will, accompanied by emotion, that leads to action on behalf of its object" (Baucham, Family Driven Faith).  An act of the will.  Love is more than a passing feeling.  While certainly there are times where we may feel full of love for those around us, more often than not, choosing to love someone will be just that - a choice, a decision made regardless of our feelings.  Love means choosing to put someone else's needs before your own - even when you don't feel like it.  This selfless love goes against the grain in our self-saturated culture.

Most groups have a way to distinguish themselves from others.  Every nation's military, and even different military branches, have different uniforms to distinguish who they're fighting for and in what branch.  At games of every sport, fans are always present decked out in all kinds of crazy colors.  They can be identified at a glance as supporters of a certain team based on the color they're wearing.  Jesus told His disciples that Christians are distinguished from others as well.  "'By this all people will know that you are my disciples; if you have love for one another'" (John 13:35).  Wow!  We will be known by the way we love.  Do we love only when we feel like it?  Or, as Jesus posed the question to His disciples, '"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them'" (Luke 6:32).  Just returning love to those who love us us isn't enough.  As Christians, we must go further.  Jesus told His disciples what the standard is for those who follow Him.  '"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful'" (Luke 6:35-36).  The Bible tells us that God IS love (see 1 John 4:8), so, as His followers, love must be a characterization of our lives as well.  Everything Jesus did on earth was in love; He served, taught, and died for us.  This is our example for loving others.

The most often-quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16: '"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.'"  God loved the world.  But He didn't send a box of candy hearts (although those have their place).  Instead, He sent His Son: a sacrifice, a gift - a decision to love, even when no one deserved that from Him.  Valentine's Day is about love.  Loving even when we don't feel like it.  Loving even when it means sacrifice.  Loving those who don't love us back.  Because that's what love is - '"just as I have love you" (John 13:34).

Photo Credit: Sura Nualpradid from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Calvary Love in the Home

"If I am inconsiderate about the comfort of others,

or their feelings,

or even of their little weaknesses;

if I am careless about their little hurts and miss opportunities to smooth their way;

if I make the sweet running of household wheels more difficult to accomplish,

then I know nothing of Calvary love."

-Amy Carmichael, lifelong missionary to India

Beyond All Measure

"'Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends'" (John 15:13). In a culture full of love offered at a lower price, such sacrificial love isn't often asked for - and rarely given. Yet, no greater love exists.

In the Old Testament, God asks, speaking of Israel, "'What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?'" (Isaiah 5:4).  God gave Israel all she could need: fertile land, peace from neighbors (when Israel was faithful and obedient), priests and prophets, and a way to know the God of everything.  "'I have loved you with an everlasting love,'" God told His people. "'Yet you have not listened to Me...'" (Jeremiah 31:3; Jeremiah 25:7).

When Jesus came, He spent His life glorifying God by loving those He met. He taught them, healed them, served them - giving His time, energy, wisdom, patience... "Now...when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). He spent His life loving and when the time came, He showed the extent of His love by willingly giving His life.

Love songs abound as well as differing opinions on what love is. In 1 John, we find God's definition of love: "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us... " (1 John 3:16). The entire Bible is written from a loving God to people who never deserve that love yet have always received it. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1). When we wake up every day, we should count the many blessings we have received from our loving God. The One who created the entire universe has lovingly given us opportunity to pursue a close relationship with Him. God has given us salvation, His Word, family, an education... On top of all that, He proves His love a thousand other ways a day that we often take for granted. The most often-quoted verse in the Bible speaks of God's great love for us, stating that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son" (John 3:16, emphasis added). As Stuart Townend wrote,

"How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure."

A Friend for Megan

Hallie walked down the street to her house after taking a stroll around her neighborhood.

"Hi, Hallie!" she heard as she approached her house.

Hallie turned. "Hi, Megan," she said with a little disappointment. Megan was a little younger than Hallie and followed her around whenever possible. Hallie thought Megan was nice, but having her around constantly quickly became annoying.

"Can you play?" Megan asked excitedly.

Mentally, Hallie searched for a good excuse. Relieved, she thought of one. "I really need to go help my mom get lunch ready," she explained.

"Oh," said Megan, sadly.

"Maybe I can play later," Hallie offered, now that she felt a little sorry for Megan.

~~~

After lunch that day, Mrs. Stevens went into Hallie's room. "Hallie," she began. "Do you remember when we talked about Megan Howell's parents' mission trip?"

"Yeah," said Hallie as she remembered. "They're going to Russia for three weeks, right?"

"That's right," Mrs. Stevens answered. "Mr. and Mrs. Howell have given a lot of money and spent a lot of time and effort helping a church there get started. They want to spend a couple of weeks in Russia to meet the people and see how things are going."

"Sounds great," Hallie said.

"Well, the Howells need a place for Megan to stay while they're in Russia, and your dad and I talked it over and told them she could stay here."

"What?!" Hallie responded quickly. "For three weeks?! Three weeks with Megan here? Mom, she's going to follow me around everywhere and look through everything in my room and talk constantly..."

"I know, honey, I know, but your dad and I talked about it and this is a way we can bless the Howells. As Christians, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus told His disciples, '"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'" (John 13:35). Just like the believers in the early Church helped each other (see Acts 4:32), this is our opportunity to do the same for the Howells. I know it won't be easy, honey, but this is our opportunity to glorify God by loving His children."

"Okay, Mom," Hallie sighed, still disappointed. "I guess I'll see what I have that Megan would enjoy doing."

"Great idea," Mrs. Stevens smiled.

~~~

Hallie cleaned her room as she thought about what she and Megan could do for three weeks. We could play with my old dolls and watch that movie I LOVED when I was her age, she thought. After that, the ideas just kept coming. We could play that board game, uh, what was it? Oh! "Honey House!" Maybe she would like that bowling game that's been in our storage room for forever... Hallie remembered the verse her mom had talked about: "'By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'" (John 13:35). Lord, please help me to be able to show Your love to Megan while she is here, she prayed.

~~~

One week later, Mrs. Stevens went upstairs to Hallie's room where Hallie and Megan were giggling uncontrollably. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Megan thinks my baby pictures are hilarious," Hallie explained. "And come to mention it, I did look kinda funny," she smiled. Megan burst out laughing again.

"Well, I'm glad you girls are having fun!" Mrs. Stevens smiled. "Megan, I just got a call from your mom and she said that everything is going great. Only two more weeks and they'll be home!"

Hallie smiled at Megan and then looked at her mom. "It'll fly by," she said.

None Greater

"We love because He first loved us," the apostle John penned (1 John 4:19).  "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Paul explained to the Roman church (Rom. 5:8).  We have countless examples of God's love toward us, but how do we show our love to Him?  A king, a preacher, and a zealot were all loved by God, and their lives and actions testify to their love for God in return.

"'The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart,'" the prophet Samuel told King Saul (1 Samuel 13:14).  Paul affirmed this title for David when he told the Christians in Antioch that God had said, "'"I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will"'" (Acts 13:22). Always a zealous follower of God, David is first mentioned in the Scriptures when he was anointed by Samuel the prophet while Saul was still king.  Instead of violently grabbing the kingdom with his own two hands, David patiently waited for God's timing - even when Saul unlawfully sought David's life.  Armed with a sling, some stones, and a strong faith in the God of his fathers, the teenaged David struck down the giant Goliath, who had held the entire Israelite army in fear by his sheer presence.  David claimed the victory for God.  Later in David's life, David wanted to build a Temple for God, as he told Nathan the prophet: "'See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent'" (2 Samuel 7:2).  However, God told David that it was not for him to build the Temple of God, '"for you are a man of war and have shed blood'" (1 Chron. 28:3).  While obedient to God's command to wait and let David's son Solomon build the Temple, David still drew up the plans for the Temple - wanting to have some part in the building of the house of his God.  David wrote most of the Book of Psalms in the Bible, many of them listing the great things God had done for him and David's love for God in return: "I love you, O LORD, my strength" (Psalm 18:1).  David put God first in what he did and sought the things of God before the things of man.

The apostle John called himself, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 20:2).  That doesn't mean that John was the only disciple that Jesus loved, but it does mean that John and Jesus had a close bond.  When Jesus died, He put His mother into the care of John (John 19:26-27).  Drawing from his own time with Jesus, John wrote extensively on love.  In the book of 1 John alone (a mere five chapters!), the word "love" appears thirty-six times.  1 John includes a description of love: "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).  "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome...And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us" (1 John 5:3, 3:23).

Peter was the most headstrong and zealous of all Jesus' disciples, and often swung violently from one extreme to another.  When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, Peter objected, '"You shall never wash my feet.'" Jesus replied, '"If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.'"  Peter emphatically declared, '"Lord, [wash] not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!'" (John 13:6-11).  He refused to believe that Jesus would one day be killed (Matt. 16:22-23).  When the mob came to take Jesus to the high priests, Peter heedlessly cut off the high priest's servant's ear (John 18:10; Luke 22:49-51). However, once the Spirit descended on him and he understood Jesus' purpose in coming to earth, Peter changed from his overly dramatic and zealous earlier days.  After Jesus' resurrection, He asked, '"Simon...do you love Me?"'  "'Yes, Lord, You know that I love You,"' Peter replied.  "'Feed My lambs,"' Jesus commanded Peter (see John 21:15-17).  If we love God, we will love and care for His children.  Six times in 1 and 2 Peter, the wise apostle entreated those receiving his letters to "love one another earnestly from a pure heart" (1 Peter 1:22) and "[l]ove the brotherhood" (1 Peter 2:17).  The man who once cut off a man's ear now entreated his friends to love each other.

Peter and John were probably present when a scribe wisely agreed with Jesus, '"And to love [God] with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices'" (Mark 12:33).  As King David showed us, to love God is to put Him before everything else.  We are not truly loving God when we are only performing the required minimum.  God wants us to love Him with all our heart, understanding, and strength - He wants to be first in our lives.  As the apostle John wrote, to love Him is to obey Him.  And as the zealot-turned-pastor Peter counseled, to love God is to love those He loves.  As the disciple whom Jesus loved said, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  Let us love the LORD our God with all our heart, our mind, and our heart, and love our neighbors like we love ourselves, for Jesus taught, '"There is no other commandment greater than these'" (see Mark 12:30-31).

Showing the World

Deep in the heart of South American jungle in the small, coastal country of Ecuador, lived one of the most savage tribes ever known - the Waorani.  As savage defenders against outsiders, the Waorani had never been reached by anyone outside their tribe. But that was about to change.

Also in Ecuador, but not so deep in the jungle, five men and their wives labored to bring the Gospel to those who had not yet heard. They all had different backgrounds and circumstances; one had been married for nearly eight years and had three children, another married only eighteen months with no children. One was a World War II paratrooper, another a deep thinker, and another a inventive pilot. But they were alike in their passion for Christ and their burden for those who did not know the truth. Like the Waorani.

Leading up to their first meeting with the brutal, unreached tribe, the five missionaries dropped gifts to the Waoranis, including meticulously-planned items and photos designed to prove their friendship to the natives. After much prayer, planning, and more prayer, they flew off to visit the Waorani tribe for the first time on January 3, 1956. Meanwhile, the wives waited anxiously for the periodic radio contact and reassurance that everything was going well. On January 8, one of the missionaries radioed his wife and assured her that things were going fine. He saw that Waoranis were approaching, so he promised his wife that he'd call again at 4:35. His wife waited. All was quiet.

It was love from God that motivated the five men to pursue what appeared to be a suicidal mission in order to further the good news of the Gospel. It was that same true, Biblical love that kept those five from using their weapons when the natives returned - with spears. It was that same love from God that empowered one of the five martyrs' wives and another's sister to return to the same natives and continue the mission of furthering the Gospel - ministering to the same ones who murdered their loved ones!

Elisabeth Elliot wrote of one of the missionaries, "[he had] a love for God and a sympathetic heart" (Through Gates of Splendor, p. 65). Before his death, another of the slain missionaries wrote in his diary, "I am longing now to reach the Aucas [Waorani], if God gives me the honor of proclaiming the Name among them. I would gladly give my life for that tribe, if only to see an assembly of [them] gathering around a table to honor the Son" (Through Gates of Splendor, p. 26). All five showed a love for God that motivated a love for the lost - a love strong enough to resist fighting back when those they loved turned on them. This love for God, passion for His glory, and love for those who had never known the Gospel motivated Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian to give their lives. They could agree with another missionary, John Stott, who challenged, "In view of the constraining memories of the cross of Christ and the love wherewith He hath loved us, let us rise and resolve, at whatever cost of self-denial, that live or die, we shall live or die for the evangelization of the world in our day.” They did it gladly. God's love is great! As five missionaries to Ecuador have shown the world, our love should be, too.