Celebrate Love

Love is in the air.  Romantic love.  Everyone must be talking about it.  After all, it is February.  It doesn’t matter whether you are in love, out of love, or looking for love; you have an opinion.  The new romcom movies are hitting the screens.  The stores are filled with gifts and mementos meant to tickle the fancy of young and old alike.  But the noise of the day dampens the joy that usually washes over us this time of year.

Right after a Valentine’s Day advertisement for candy chocolate hearts airs, you just might see or hear something about it being Black History Month.  Then you may see something speaking about doing away with diversity and affirmative action.  And in the midst of this mixed messaging onslaught, everyone is supposed to be in the mood for talking about love.

Then where is Jesus?

Do you want Jesus in the middle of your romantic relationship?  Should Jesus be there right at the very beginning?  At the very moment, when you look across the room and catch the eye of one who piques your interest, do you stop and pray?  How long were you in your romantic relationship before Jesus was invited in?  Old-timers at love, just how often is Jesus included in your celebrations of love?

For centuries, composers and arrangers have created masterpieces that speak about the love humans have for God and Jesus.  Some lyrics speak boldly about the love Jesus and God have for humans.  When one thinks and sings about this love, it rings of a magnificent relationship.

Sometime during this month, church choirs and congregations may sing Love lifted me, I love the Lord, I really love the Lord, What wondrous love is this, Oh how I love Jesus, and/or There is a name I love to hear.  There’s even the cantata No Greater Love that is usually reserved for Easter.  However, doesn’t this cantata have a part to play in February’s celebration of love?

Then there’s Jesus Is Love by Lionel Richie.  That says it all, right?  That soulful gospel melody about Jesus tells it all. The songwriter wrote, “Jesus is love.  I know.”  Tune in and discover this truth for yourself. 

A more pertinent fact is that scripture says that God loves us in the biggest way.  In the Bible, John wrote about God's great love for the world.  John 3:16 tells us that:

… God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. (KJV)

Learn about this love. Come to a place where you believe it not only because the Bible tells you so, but you know in your heart that it is so.  Now that’s love.

At this time, we need to remember what it felt like when we first believed that God sent Jesus to love us.  Jesus is the answer to these topsy-turvy times we are living in.  Times when good seems to be taking a back seat to evil.  God gave us a means for having everlasting life if we only believe.

You are being called to remember that Jesus is with you. Joshua 1:9, in part, tells us that God is with us wherever we go.  Remember that Jesus is love.  Watching the news and the chaos the world offers, you may not see very much that inspires you to celebrate love. We should pray for and expect a miracle of the magnitude that only Jesus can achieve.

Before we delve further into romantic love, ponder whether falling in love with Jesus was the best thing you ever did.  Protection and connection are things Jesus promises to give us.  Getting it right with Jesus can inspire and empower you to get it right with humans. 

Go and teach others to love in the name of Jesus.  Here’s the thing: Jesus is right here in the midst of it all.  And Jesus is calling each and every one of us to pay attention and receive his reward.

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

CELEBRATE JESUS!   CELEBRATE LOVE.