February brings love to our community through the holiday of Valentine’s Day. We see the color red and a variety of heart shapes everywhere we go. We are encouraged to express our love for each other through words, cards, flowers and candy. Merriam Webster defines love as a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. While our local stores call us to show our love this month through purchasing lots of goodies for those closest to us, the Bible explains God’s love for us in so many more ways.
The blessing of teaching in a Lutheran school is to be able to truly explain what love is - Love is Jesus! When surveying our preschool students about love, I was joyfully surprised by their answers. Many shared that love is about their moms and dads, their family and friends, their toys and pets but they all agreed that Jesus is about love! One pre-K student also added that baby Jesus is awfully cute. 😊
As Christians, we also know that the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross for us is the ultimate gift of love. Even though we are not worthy, He still loves us. So, on this Valentine’s Day, as we look upon the symbols of earthly love, let’s also remember the cross and the real love it represents… the love of Jesus.
We are so blessed to have personal ties to Christ because He first loved us!
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16
Written by: Jaci Gloss, Christ’s Greenfield Lutheran School, Gilbert, AZ