Do you remember getting excited about purchasing cards, candy, and cookies to exchange with classmates to celebrate Valentine’s Day, a day when the world pauses to celebrate love?  I know that I did, and I know that my children get excited too. Do you remember how the holiday was celebrated in your household growing up? Each year that Valentine’s Day rolled around, I remember my father would give me candy as a symbolic token of his love.  My husband and I carried on that same tradition in our home with our girls.  They look forward to receiving their delicious, sweet treats from Daddy and Mommy, as symbols of our love. After all, who doesn’t enjoy receiving sweet gifts? Beyond the candy, cards, and cookies, I have some even sweeter news! Our Father, God has Valentine’s Day prepared for us every day.  He has sweet treats and delicious gifts that demonstrate His love for us that never fade away. Let us take a journey to explore 5 sweet reminders of our Father’s love.

1. God’s love supply is unlimited.

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16 KJV)

We cannot talk about love without talking about God because not only does He love us, but also, He IS love.  This means that anytime we are really trying to define love, we must first look at the blueprint that God has laid out for us through His word for what love truly means. The fact that God is love is also a sweet reminder that, when we may feel as if love is lacking in our lives, it actually is not because God is with us and in us. We have access to His love 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days of the year. Thank you God for unlimited access to your love!

2. God loved us first.

“We love him because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 KJV)

Our Father loved us FIRST. He does not wait for us to embrace Him, follow Him, obey Him, or accept Him in order to love us. He just loves us. No works needed; no conditions required; He loves us FIRST.  There is much to be said about that, because our human nature is typically to love others when they show us love, but praise God, Our Father does not operate that way. He did not wait for us to love Him first before extending His love to us. He is the initiator of love.  Wow, I do not know about you, but that blesses my soul when I think about this sweet reminder!

3. God’s love is a sacrificial gift.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)

God loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His one and only Son so that we could have a personal relationship with Him and ultimately spend eternity with Him. Now that is what I call love! While cards, candy, and jewelry are nice, all if those items are temporary. They pass away. God’s gift to us, Jesus Christ, is eternal. The gift of Christ NEVER fades away. Our Father sure knows how to give gifts!

4. God’s love is unconditional.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 NKJV)

This passage is one of my favorites, because the scripture serves as a sweet reminder that our “goodness” does not make God love us more, and our mistakes do not make Him love us less. He loves us through our flaws and mistakes.  Despite sins, better yet, because God knew that we would sin against Him, Christ died for us.  Our Father thought about a solution to cover us because He knew our nature. He gave and continues to give us the gift of unconditional love and has us on his mind even when we are not thinking about Him. He loves us through our mess. Whew wee, what a love!! That is what I call a sweet gift!

5. God’s love is inseparable.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 38-39 NKJV)

The enemy tries to convince us that there are conditions to Our Father’s love. At times, he creeps in and whispers doubt into our spirit that our mistakes, failures, trials, and other situations separate us from God’s love, but this passage is proof that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love. Read it again… NOTHING can separate us from God’s love. God loves us no matter who we are, no matter where we go, no matter where we are, and no matter what we do…NO MATTER WHAT!

Reflect & Relate

My prayer is that regardless of how you spend this Valentine’s Day, these passages are sweet reminders of the true love that Our Father, God has for you as His child. I encourage you to take some time to reflect on the love of God.  Take a moment to revisit the passages above and write down your thoughts about the depth of God’s love for you as His child.

Let Us Pray

Dear God, my Father… Thank you for these sweet reminders of your great love for me.  Thank you for loving me first and thank you for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for the ultimate demonstration of your love for me by the free gift that you sacrificially gave me, Jesus Christ, to cover all of my sins.  I am so appreciative that nothing can separate me from your love and extremely grateful for your examples of love. Please help me to embrace this love and share it with the world that is in desperate need of feeling and witnessing these beautiful gifts and blessings.  I love you! In the name of Jesus, Amen!

I invite you to check out my new book, “A Glimpse of Our Father: Lessons Parenthood Reveals for All of God’s Children.”