Send to KindleCan you hear it? Valentine’s Day is coming! The Hallmark Channel is doing it’s Countdown to Valentine’s Day…my children are getting adept at avoiding that channel. (Granny likes to watch it.)
Of course all the books and movies about love involve instant chemistry and finding the one soul mate that will fulfill all your desires and meet all your needs.
So tell me, is that what true love really is? Have you ever felt a chemical reaction to someone else, an attraction that defies all logic, even someone you barely know? What does that mean? Is that true love?
Honestly, movies and books portray it that way, as if true love is all about attraction, and getting the one who will always make you happy, always do what’s right for you, always see you in the best possible light. The one you can trust implicitly and lean on unfailingly. The one who never lets you down, and will always be exactly who you expect them to be.
Guess what? That belongs smack in the middle of the ‘Fantasy’ genre. And it’s a harmful fantasy. It harms your view of reality, and taints your image of your real partner – the one with whom you are supposed to create ‘true love.’
What’s really true love?
God tells us, it’s not like He’s made it some big secret. He spelled it all out for us in I Corinthians 13.
Love is…
- kind
- longsuffering
- not envious
- not proud
- bears all things
- hopes all things
- believes all things
- endures all things
Notice how all that is something love gives or does…not something love receives. We don’t GET true love, we GIVE true love.
That means true love endures even when it isn’t convenient…or when it hurts us. Yes, God asks us to do things that are hard, and things that hurt sometimes. God asks us to GIVE true love to others.
God did it. God’s love is the purest, most unfailing example of real-life True Love.
So this Valentine’s Day, we should consider how we are giving true love to others. Let that be your Valentine’s Day gift.
About the Author:
Sherry grew up in various cities around northern and central California. This gave her all sorts of stories that sat and festered in her brain, waiting to be let loose. She eventually went to college in Wisconsin, where she met her equally frenetic husband, Rich. They have six (yes, count them) children, two dogs and a cat, and currently reside in a madhouse in the southern California area. As a family, they enjoy being active in their local church. Sherry spends her time writing when not caring for Granny, the kids, the dogs, the cat and any number of strays in the neighborhood.
Sherry Chamblee can also be found at http://www.sherrychamblee.weebly.com
