Expressions of Love
February the 14th is a day everyone likes to remember. It’s the day when love is in the air.
The school where I work gets so many flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals that they stop taking things at 11 a.m. just so they can get them all given to the children by 3:30 p.m. I drive a school bus and it had about 50 or more such things on it. I couldn’t see all the children because there were so many balloons on it.
Between the florists, the jewelers, and Wal-Mart, there are millions of dollars spent on Valentines Day each year.
I guess there are lots of ways to express love. One sign I saw said that roses were only $50.00 a dozen. I guess that was a deal. I am sure other places had roses a lot higher. One friend told me that he had gone to a candy store to get his wife some candy, only to find that the chocolate that she wanted cost $40.00 for a two pound box. He said to me, “I went to Walmart and got a $6.00 box.” It’s not how much you spend, it’s how much you love. Right?
As you read this, Pallie Sue and I will have celebrated our 38th anniversary together on March 5th. Thanks, Pallie, for loving me!
We have had a wonderful marriage with the help of the Lord. God gave us five wonderful children and 7 wonderful grandchildren that we think are the greatest . Through the years we have learned that we don’t have to buy something for each other to express our love just because it’s a special occasion, but rather we show each other day by day. We have learned that love is strong and deep-seated in the heart and not in the billfold. There have been times when on special occasions we haven’t had money to spend on each other, but we still were able to express our love to each other. We never let a day go by without saying to each other, “I love you!” (Pallie Sue, you are the greatest!)
Paul, the apostle, gives many ways to express love in I Corinthians 13 . Let me give you a short version from “The Message”
The scripture shows us how God expressed His love for us.
Jesus also loved us.
The school where I work gets so many flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals that they stop taking things at 11 a.m. just so they can get them all given to the children by 3:30 p.m. I drive a school bus and it had about 50 or more such things on it. I couldn’t see all the children because there were so many balloons on it.
Between the florists, the jewelers, and Wal-Mart, there are millions of dollars spent on Valentines Day each year.
I guess there are lots of ways to express love. One sign I saw said that roses were only $50.00 a dozen. I guess that was a deal. I am sure other places had roses a lot higher. One friend told me that he had gone to a candy store to get his wife some candy, only to find that the chocolate that she wanted cost $40.00 for a two pound box. He said to me, “I went to Walmart and got a $6.00 box.” It’s not how much you spend, it’s how much you love. Right?
As you read this, Pallie Sue and I will have celebrated our 38th anniversary together on March 5th. Thanks, Pallie, for loving me!
We have had a wonderful marriage with the help of the Lord. God gave us five wonderful children and 7 wonderful grandchildren that we think are the greatest . Through the years we have learned that we don’t have to buy something for each other to express our love just because it’s a special occasion, but rather we show each other day by day. We have learned that love is strong and deep-seated in the heart and not in the billfold. There have been times when on special occasions we haven’t had money to spend on each other, but we still were able to express our love to each other. We never let a day go by without saying to each other, “I love you!” (Pallie Sue, you are the greatest!)
Paul, the apostle, gives many ways to express love in I Corinthians 13 . Let me give you a short version from “The Message”
Love never gives up.My prayer is that the Lord would help me to love, like Paul is talking about in this chapter, in a greater way.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end,
Love never dies.
The scripture shows us how God expressed His love for us.
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.” (John 3: 16. “The Message”)
Jesus also loved us.
“As the Father loved Me, I also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commmandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:9-10)The scripture tells us how we are to love one other.
Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and have Himself for her.”So what is the conclussion from The Message?
“My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love - so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about--not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.” (I John 4:7-11)Now! That’s an expression of Love! Lord, help me to learn to express my love for God more.
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