Good Sunday Morning,
The origin of today’s message should be self-evident. Being Valentine’s Day, many folks’ thoughts naturally turn to love and when I get to share these messages with you, it is my hope that many folks’ thoughts also turn to the love God has for us.
We all hope of being in a loving relationship, where there is unconditional love between both partners. That is the ultimate relationship. The general idea behind unconditional love is to love someone wholeheartedly and unselfishly under any circumstance.
Although highly desired, most folks would tell you that unconditional love is hard to come by and even harder to sustain . . . or so they think (hold that thought, and we’ll come back to that before we’re finished).
Since unconditional love is a two-way street, you need to do your part. So how do you do that, you ask? My answer would be to love like a puppy. That’s right, think of the love shown to you by your puppy and you’ll get the idea. For example, your puppy (i.e., love) doesn’t like being left alone for long, but regardless . . . when you do come home, love (i.e., your puppy) is always happy to see you.
And sure, your puppy (i.e., a loving relationship) may accidentally break a few things or stain the carpet as it grows and moves through life, but you can never be mad at your puppy (i.e., your partner) for very long. That is why we were told a while back (I’m not sure when exactly, it might have been a year or two ago) that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all thing. 1 Corinthians 13:7
OK, so for those of you still holding that prior thought, First, thank you for playing along, and second, I’m here to remind you that you are already in an unconditional loving relationship (or least the other half of the two-way street is committed to the effort).
God promised us that he would always hold up his part; after all, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16. So, knowing that, the least we can do is try to meet him halfway.
You’ve probably heard the saying “Try to be the person your dog thinks you are” . . . well here’s my thought, try to be the person your God thinks you are” because even if you do fail (and you likely will a couple of times), he won’t rub your nose in it and you undoubtedly will be a better person for it. In other words, let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
So, pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and then . . . after telling your valentine that you love them . . . take solace in knowing that the Lord has made this day, may you rejoice and be glad in it.
Jeff Bergstrom
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P.P.S. Just thinking out loud . . . on a day when we’re talking about unconditional love, do you think it’s a coincidence that God and dog are spelled with the same letters?
