February 7, 2017 - It was a time when the Roman empire was at the height of its power and the last thing they needed was for their soldiers to be concerned about anything other than fighting. But as has always been, young men and young ladies dream of love and marriage. The Roman government, not caring that much about a young soldiers dreams realized that if he had a wife he would be more concerned about his wife than conquering the world. So a decree went out that no soldier could marry, and any priest caught marrying them would be arrested. But a priest named Valentine felt that the perfect will of God was demonstrated by true love between a man and woman. So he began secretly performing marriages between soldiers and their loves. He was arrested and thrown in prison. While in prison he continued to minister to the imprisoned Christians of the love of God. He became friends with the jailer. As their friendship grew Asterius (the jailer), told Valentine of his sick daughter. Valentine had him bring the girl to him and he prayed for her and she was miraculously healed. The story goes that before he was to be executed he wrote the young girl a final letter and signed it "your Valentine."
Of all the things talked of in the bible, nothing is mentioned more than love. Throughout the bible God reassures us of His love for us. His love is a perfect, pure and unconditional love that crosses all cultures. A perfect description of how we should love is found in 1 Cor. 13:3-8. Paul writes; "If I give away all that I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but do not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." If you read this closely you will see that love doesn't have as much to do with how we feel, but what we do. For some reason we have distorted love over the years and turned it into a "feeling." The Bible teaches that love is not about how we feel about each other at all, but how we treat one another. To show love you have to give love.
So this Valentine day if you really want to show someone that you love them do something for them. Don't just buy them something. Do something for them that is completely unselfish and ask nothing in return. Do it just because you love them. Material gifts last only for a little while but a true act of love last for eternity. Gods gift to us was given over 2000 years ago and is still as relevant today as it was then. Jesus gave the ultimate gift of love; Himself. Accept His gift of love to you today and enjoy the peace that comes from living in a loving relationship. "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." Don't miss out. Receive the love of God and share it with someone today.
I'm Just Sayin,
Mike Belgard
