Celebrating LOVE

I believe that holidays are special opportunities to share things with those you love...

Yes, we should be thankful all year long - not just on Thanksgiving Day... And we don't have to wait until Christmas to give gifts or celebrate the birth of the greatest Man who ever lived. 

And I do agree that a lot of our holidays have become more commercialized...which can enable my inner materialistic self...

But I think that there's nothing wrong with observing a holiday focused on LOVE...

I mean, there's a whole chapter in the Bible dedicated to telling us what LOVE really is...

It's actually one of my favorite chapters...one that I think on and reflect on often...to see if I'm truly loving someone or just using the word...

1 Corinthians 13, verses 4-7 say this about what love really is:4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

And the author, the Apostle Paul ended that chapter with this verse: 

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Love is the greatest gift of all. Why shouldn't we celebrate it? 

And I don't think it has to be celebrated with flowers, cards, extravagant dinners, or an explosive amount of money...any expression of love is important!!

I know that there are some people with regrets when it comes to love...they often wish they would have showed love to the ones closest to them...and for some people, it's too late for that. 

But, you can start today. Celebrate those around you who you love. Do something special to show them that you love them...that you care for them...

And then throughout the day...I challenge you to think about how you can apply the verses of 1 Corinthians 13 along with me - being patient, kind, not jealous, proud, or rude, not demanding my way, not being irritable, not keeping record of wrong...not rejoicing in someone's injustice, but rejoicing in the truth...never giving up, never losing faith, always being hopeful, and enduring through every circumstance...

That's true LOVE...and that is what should be celebrated!