Valentine’s Day is almost here. How many valentines will you have? In elementary school, we traded Valentine cards. We had a big box and stuffed it full of cards for our classmates. If we received 20 or 30 Valentine cards, we felt good because we had a lot of valentines.
You may or may not receive many cards this year, if any at all. Nice cards are expensive, as are flowers, candy, and dinners. Whether you receive a Valentine card or not doesn’t determine the number of people in your life you care about or who care about you.
Some people may determine their self-worth by how many friends they have on social media. But are they really your friends? Perhaps you go to church with a lot of people you care about and who care about you. Maybe you still have several close family members who love you and whom you love.
We have so much hate in the world. Political parties are filled with hate. Many Democrats hate President Donald Trump, and many Republicans hate former President Joe Biden. Some Republicans and Democrats hate each other. Some people hate Elon Musk. Some people love or hate the Philadelphia Eagles.
People hate former husbands, wives, girlfriends, and boyfriends. Hate is evident in the world. In many of our major cities, there’s a murder every day, too often more than one.
What does hate accomplish? It’s a very negative emotion that brings negative results. Someone often gets hurt when hate is involved. Hate hurts the hater. It does not create a spring of well-being and joy. Hate cuts deep within us, and your body doesn’t react positively to this long-term dark emotion.
There is a line of demarcation. The Jewish people who had loved ones raped and murdered by Hamas don’t feel loving toward Hamas. The citizens of Ukraine don’t feel loving toward Putin and Russia. We surely understand their feelings.
Yet, somehow, some way, in this life, we have to find a way to rise above and soar higher. It’s not always easy to love, but love covers a multitude of sins.
I don’t know how Jesus could love me. All my sins put him on the cross. Yet, over and over again, the Bible tells me that God loves me—and for what reason? I have done nothing to deserve His love.
Try to show and tell more people you love them. Call some people this week and tell them you love them. Tell some Democrats and Republicans you love them. Tell some sinners you love them. You never know, some of the love you give just might come back to you.
When Mary anointed Jesus in the Bible, the entire house could smell the perfume. Jesus had the perfume all over him, but Mary also had the perfume all over her. Love anoints others, but often we end up anointed as much as the ones to whom we extend love.
