A Father’s Love

1 John 4:19

“We love because He first loved us.”

This Valentine’s Day was definitely different from any other Valentine’s Day as both Joe and I had come down with the flu. We had moved into our house the following week, and before we could get a single item off the truck, we were struck down with fevers and body aches.

For a week, I slept on an air mattress in the living room while Joe slept in our bedroom, on a mattress on the floor. I remember laying in the living room, wrapped up in blankets and thinking to myself, this is not how I wanted our first Valentine’s in our new home to be. It was definitely not what I had envisioned. Thankfully, Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean much to Joe and me as it is just another day. Our love for each other remains constant and does not increase specifically on Valentine’s Day.

As I laid there by myself, I was so grateful to God for planting and growing the love that Joe and I have for each other. I was grateful that God loved us so much that He tended to our hearts that had been broken by others. He mended them and healed them and then filled them with His love so that we could love others.

1 John 4:19 is a wonderful reminder that our ability to love others is an overflow of the love that God has poured into us.

Because He loved us first, He showed us how to love freely and unconditionally. Because He loved us first, we have a foundation to understand what love truly is and the reasons of why we love. It’s not for flowers, teddy bears, candlelight dinners or candy, even though I do like candy. We love because God is love. We love to be more Christ like. We love to be vessels of God’s love for others. We love because God loved us first.

I pray that God’s love transforms you in the way you love others even if it is just a kind word, or a helping hand. Simple acts of kindness reflect the love that is in your heart and are testaments to the love that God has poured into you.