When you think of a love story, what comes to mind? Romeo & Juliet, of course. Maybe your own love story is note-worthy. But do you think of God and His love story for us?
Valentine’s Day has come and gone. How did you celebrate? Did you get flowers, jewelry, or candy? Did you celebrate with family, friends or a special someone? I got flowers and I cooked dinner for my loved ones.
My Mother wanted to make any “holiday” special, even Valentine’s day. I did not date until I was in college. I never liked Valentine’s because the focus was always a relationship that seem to elude me. My Mother heard my grumblings and took it upon herself to fix my opinion of the “couples only” celebration day. I got a surprise visit at work, a teddy bear peaking around my door. My Mother wanted me to feel special and loved. My Mother was special.
Instead of focusing on what I did not have, she shifted my focus on what I did have. I had a family who loved me for me, not who was missing in my life. Although my grandmother wanted me to be in a relationship, my Mother wanted me to be happy with me. Here are two women in my life with different ideas of happy. My Mother wanted whatever made me happy to be me, not someone else. My grandmother wanted me to be happy and felt it had to include someone else. It was a focus issue that made them and their views so different.
My parents had a love story that was visible to everyone who knew them. Having lived with them, it was not just a public performance. They loved each other in spite of each other. My Dad put my Mother on a pedestal and kept her there until the day he died. He adored her. Would not allow anyone to hurt her. If you did, you faced a very angry man. My Mother adored my Daddy. She did not worship him as he did her. I think when he went on the road for work, it made the heart grow fonder for her. She needed space. She cherished him and the way he loved her. My parents had a love story that I find difficult to put into words. But they did not exemplify 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, but most relationships do not.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Love does this, humans fail. We humans are arrogant and rude, prideful and willful, irritable and resentful; however, love is the opposite of that. I am not talking about a feeling. Feelings fade and feelings change. But love is from God and of God. When God is a part of our relationships, then we can say these verses as a prayer over those relationships.
By changing our focus, we can have a love story that will not fade. By shifting our focus from human to God, we see a love story that can play out better than any play or romance ever written. It is not about the human relationship, but about the spiritual one. Change is going to happen when you shift your focus heaven-ward. When you have a relationship with Christ, then the love you have can endure all things, believe all things, hope all things. Because He will never leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6). We humans have a time limit, but God does not. His love for us knows no bounds (Hosea 14:4).
So next time you are feeling a certain way about love and relationships, change you focus. Look at how God loved us. Shift you focus to John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” God loved us so much that He provided a way for us to be with Him for eternity. No human can make such a claim.
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