Happy V-Day

Here on Valentine's Day, I think of one of my favorite commercials...which, I know, makes me a little warped:



I'm still laughing every time I see it!

You know, that ad and the other ones like it (the athlete who's getting bad news from his doctor - have you seen that one?) are funny...but also really sad. Why? Because they are just way too true. Deep inside, in places we don't like to talk about, we're that selfish, aren't we? While none of us would ever be that blunt about our selfishness, we all naturally think about how things affect us. The ad strikes a nerve because it's painfully true.

Yes, that's the natural state of the human heart...and that's what Christ came to change. We can't love unselfishly and unconditionally because we are all so needy. God doesn't need anything, so he can. And he can put that in our hearts by meeting all our needs.

So, as evening falls on Valentine's Day, let us all celebrate love. not just romantic love, but real love that comes from the Source. As John wrote:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12)

Yes, happy Valentine's Day to you all!