I Thessalonians 3:12- "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:"
This week brings a holiday that most women love and that some men fear. :D Yes, I'm referring to none other than Valentine's Day- the holiday specifically dedicated to showing our love for someone special. It's amazing to see some of the lengths people go to in order to show their love.
Valentine's Day should also cause us to stop and once again consider what Scripture says about the subject of love. It defines love for us. It teaches us how to have love. However, what I want to focus on is who we should love. According to Jesus Himself, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and soul. Now, when we think about how much God loves us and how much He has done for us, I would say that loving Him would not be too difficult. To me, the hard part is the second-greatest commandment- loving our neighbor as our self.
I find it interesting that nowhere in the chapter containing out text verse does the Apostle Paul exhort or admonish the believers of Thessalonica to love the Lord. He talks about trusting and thanking God, but he never mentions loving Him. However, it is his specifically-mentioned prayer and desire that God would work in their hearts and cause them to love one another- both in the church and outside of the church. He must have seen that they were having some trouble with this, much in the same way that our present society has trouble in this area. And it's not just our society in general. This problem has even crept into many of our churches! How sad is this? Is it any wonder that Scripture mentions several times that we should love one another?
As Valentine's Day comes around this week, let's take the time to show our love to others around us, not just a certain "special someone". I think that the Lord would be pleased with this.
Amen,very good devotional Pastor.