Valentine’s Day is a holiday that brings up more than its fair share of debate. Whether you love the cheesy card sayings or just wait for the discounted candy on February 15th, there’s no denying the need for deeper, more resilient understandings of love in our world today. Let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day together by digging into how God teaches us to understand, receive, and live out of His love in our world today.
How the Bible Talks About Love
To talk about love, we have to begin with God Himself. After all, arguably the most famous verse in the Bible says, “For God so loved the world…” (Jn 3:16). Love is God’s essence and the motivation of His wisdom, commands, and activity with humanity (Mc 7:18). Not only does God express, embody, or experience love, but it is literally a defining aspect of who He is: “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1Jn 4:8).
Because God is love, we can understand more about love by looking at God Himself. Rather than our own logic or sense of morality, His Word and His acts towards humanity are how we should define what love is. While this is not an exhaustive list, here are a few ways the Bible teaches us to understand love based on God’s wisdom and His actions:
- Love is based on selfless service towards the interest and well-being of others (1Jn 3:17).
- Love is fundamentally hopeful, enduring the highs and lows that life will bring us (1Co 13:7).
- Love is connected to both how we think and feel about God and how we act according to His commands (Dt 6:4-5).
Understanding Love by Receiving
As Christians, our lives are committed to being transformed by God’s love both inside and out. To act out God’s love towards our communities, we must first believe and receive God’s love for ourselves.
The ultimate way to receive God’s love comes in believing in the work Jesus did in His life, death, and resurrection. God showed His love to each of us by offering the only thing that could save us: Himself. This is a truth all believers are certainly familiar with, but the color and weight of these statements change when we see His sacrifice not as a begrudging act of obligation from an Almighty God, but a truly unconditional, loving rescue mission of a Father for His children.
Receiving God’s love will look a little different for everyone. Our unique backgrounds, experiences, and preconceived notions about love will affect how we engage with God’s love in our own lives. For some, God’s love is an easy concept to grasp when it comes to how we act towards others but is harder to take in for ourselves. For others, God’s love may feel like this intangible concept that we can know in our minds but doesn’t have any real effect in our everyday lives. It can be helpful to talk to a friend, spiritual mentor, or pastor about areas in your faith that make it hard for you to receive God’s love. Slowing down and spending intentional time in Scriptures like the Gospels or 1 John can also connect us to God’s beautiful love story between Himself and humanity.
Sharing God’s Love with the World
Love shapes how we operate in the world. When we look at 1 Corinthians 13’s perspective on love, we find that it’s possible to do “loving” things but with no real sense of love backing them.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. —1 Corinthians 13:3
This passage of Scripture reminds us that the heart posture and motivation that accompanies our actions matters. When we know that God has defined love by a selfless concern for others, and that He demonstrates this love by giving Himself for our salvation. Now we model God’s love by loving as He did—not from places of “have to” but from the gratitude and generosity of knowing His love for ourselves.
As another Valentine’s Day comes and goes, the invitation to love doesn’t fade with the beautiful bouquets. God’s love calls us into something deeper—something resilient enough to carry us through ordinary days and difficult seasons alike. This Valentine’s Day, may we return again and again to the source of love itself, letting His perfect love shape not only what we do, but who we are becoming.
