{"id":1553,"date":"2013-02-10T09:27:49","date_gmt":"2013-02-10T15:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1553"},"modified":"2013-02-10T19:51:51","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T01:51:51","slug":"is-god-your-valentine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=1553","title":{"rendered":"Is God Your Valentine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Be<\/a>Ask anyone what Valentine\u2019s Day is all about and they will surely answer, \u201cLove!\u201d Ask them what love is all about and you may have dead silence. Young lovers think love is that tingling sensation they feel when hands touch and lips meet. Older married couples may think it\u2019s about survival and sticking it out until the end. If both age groups were shooting arrows toward a heart bull\u2019s eye, they would both miss the mark.<\/p>\n

A young co-worker of mine had a dilemma. He felt he was \u201cin love\u201d with two women because he was sexually attracted to both. Realizing my husband and I had been married for over forty years he asked me if we still had the \u201chots\u201d for each other. \u201cYou know,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you still really love each other?\u201d I told him we have our moments. Just because there\u2019s snow on the roof doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s no fire in the furnace.<\/p>\n

Naturally, I seized the opportunity to explain the difference between having the \u201chots\u201d for someone and love. Of course I would never advise one to marry without physical attraction, but those who\u2019ve been married a long time know physical attraction is at the shallow end of the love pool. Real love is deeper than that. We won\u2019t all be blonde and beautiful the rest of our lives.<\/p>\n

Love is best illustrated in 1 Corinthians 13. Called the \u201clove\u201d chapter, it gives the best overview of true love. True love (agape) is selfless, longsuffering, kind, and free of jealousy, envy and pride. Love protects, trusts, hopes and preserves. It triumphs over adversity. A Clint Black song <\/a>translates love into modern language for couples pondering what love really is: love isn\u2019t something you have, somewhere you fall, something you find, or just words you say \u2013 it\u2019s something that you do! True love lays down its life for another. (John 10:18, John 15:13, 1 John 3:16)<\/p>\n

The prime example of this is God. He loved us so much he gave his son (John 3:16, 17) who died for us while we were yet sinners. His motive was love. He didn\u2019t have a guarantee we would love him in return. In fact many reviled him for this act of love even though there is no greater love than laying down your life for someone. God loves us that much. You might say we are his valentine. Which poses the question \u2013 is God our valentine?<\/p>\n

There is nothing wrong with having a candlelit dinner, buying Godiva chocolates, wiring roses, or sending a sentimental card to someone you\u2019re attracted to. A surviving marriage deserves a little celebration as well. However, let\u2019s not forget that true love requires a bigger sacrifice. Let God be your valentine. He\u2019s already proven that you are his!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask anyone what Valentine\u2019s Day is all about and they will surely answer, \u201cLove!\u201d Ask them what love is all about and you may have dead silence. Young lovers think love is that tingling sensation they feel when hands touch … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}