Valentine's Day and the Love of God

This Sunday is Valentine’s Day. Most people can agree that Valentine’s Day is a mixed bag. For some, it is a day to appreciate and celebrate their love for/with their significant other. For others, it is an event raising the world’s awareness about their single-ness. For still others, Valentine’s Day is one big commemoration of a loved one’s failures. In other words, Valentine’s Day is great for some, but not for others.

That is the way it goes with human love. Love is good and important and worth our attention – even worth the risk. But, because humans are involved, people get hurt. Human love falls short of the love we all long for and aspire to.

That is why it is important to remember the love of God on days like Valentine’s Day. While human love can fall short, the love of God does not. In his letter to the Roman church, the Apostle Paul writes, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Again: human love can and does fail. The love of God does not.

As you celebrate (or don’t celebrate) Valentine’s Day this Sunday, remember the love of God. There is a love that runs deeper and spreads far wider than the ups and downs and ins and outs human love has to offer. It is a love that satisfies on an eternal level. That love will comfort and sustain us when human love fails. It will also help us love others better on days like Valentine’s Day.