An old adage states that it’s better to be a river than a lake. That whatever resources come to us should not stop with us but flow through us on their way to bless others. Certainly this is true of any love we receive in our lives, from whatever source. Love mustn’t stop with us. It must move through us. Through our words, our actions, our thoughts, our touch, our caring, our hoping. It must move through us to others—and to the world as a whole.
I’m not proud of the fact that I have felt somewhat discouraged and hopeless in the past few weeks. My despair is because so much hate is being spewed into our world from many directions. Hate based on emotion and fear, not facts. I’m not proud of it because that’s not how my God would have me respond to this outpouring of hate. Rather He would ask me to flood it with an outpouring of His love, flowing through me.
So this Valentine’s Day, I’m going to take love more seriously than ever before. The romantic movies, the chocolates, the roses, the dinner out won’t cease to delight me, but they won’t fully satisfy me either. I want to seek love at the deepest level. I want to gorge on the love that knows no end. The love that sacrificed all. For only such profound love can wash away such a vast amount of hate and confusion.
God IS love (1 John 4:16). So I’ll ask Him to help me show love in a million little ways. I’ll ask Him to help me hold my tongue. I’ll ask Him to remind me that without forgiveness I am nothing. And that I can forgive others because He first forgave me. I’ll remember all the lavish love He’s sent into my life and believe that I can love others because He first loved me. I’ll ask Him to help me spend time with people of all persuasions and beliefs in peace, because He tells me that all people are worthy of love.
I know. This isn’t the paper doily, construction-paper-heart kind of Valentine love. But it truly is the love the world needs now. May it flow through us all.