If you're like me (single as a Pringle) it can be easy to write off Valentine's Day as just a sappy, romantic holiday reserved for couples. However, Valentine's Day is so much more than a day for just romantic love. It's a day to appreciate the love you have for your parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, children, friends, and, most importantly, the love God has for you.
Because, without God's love for us, it would be hard for us to love each other. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us." God's unconditional love for us is what allows us to love each other beyond our mistakes. God's love teaches us that love and forgiveness go hand in hand. Unconditional love is loving one another despite our countless flaws and missteps. After enduring the craziness of 2020, I firmly believe that if there is one thing this world is missing it's unconditional love. Romans 13:8-9 states, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' You shall not covet,' and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" The election year brought so much hate and division that many people forgot that Jesus' main message during His ministry here on earth was the importance of loving your neighbor. And it's important to note that He did not specify which neighbors to love. He didn't say love your white neighbor, or love your straight neighbor, or love your conservative neighbor, or love your liberal neighbor. He just says love your neighbor, because God wants us to love with His love. He wants us to look at others and see beyond their flaws and mistakes, because that is exactly how He loves us. So, look past the sappy romance of Valentine's Day and look at it for what it truly is: a day to love everyone around you with the same love God unconditionally gives to you.