Valentine's Day

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

 

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, he will not ask, 'How many good things have you done in your life?' rather he will ask, 'How much love did you put into what you did?” (Mother Teresa)

 

 

Valentine’s Day is here again, a time associated with romance and red roses. Love is in the air. We can attempt to do many good things but if we do them without love, ultimately there is no value in what we do.

 

The dictionary defines love as a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection to a person, people or thing. Unfortunately it only gives one-sided meaning to it as it says only about the one who loves, but nothing at all on the beloved. I like how the Apostle Paul gives love a deeper meaning through the above epistle he wrote to the Corinthian Christians. He describes what love is about- its characteristics, one that are action-based and other-centred. So it excludes those that we expressed only in thoughts and words, and self-serving type.

 

We can substitute the words “Love” and “it” in the above passage with our names and read it aloud. I think we will fail in every characteristic of love mentioned in it. That shows how fall we all fall short of God’s standard. It also reveals why we have difficult relationships with our fellow beings, how each of us contributes towards making this world an unhappy place to live in, more stress, more unforgiving and less graciousness.