We get bombarded with expressions of love every February. The stores are already well stocked with items for Valentine’s Day. Those who have trouble expressing their thoughts have a chance to make up for it with a day of flowers, candy, a pretty card with meaningful words, a dinner, maybe some jewelry. We try to catch the mood just right by saying words that match our thoughts and feelings for others.

There is love all around. People go to great extremes to care for others. Much money is given to make others happy and to take care of their needs. Love goes way beyond the special days. It includes the love that folds those clothes again and again, makes the meals, pays the bills, and cleans the house. In spite of the pressures of time and life, we are given a storehouse of strength from God to love those around us.

But we get weary too. We certainly fail and act selfishly and so do others around us. We also keep in mind the things that do not go well. We harbor grudges and remember nasty experiences years and even decades later. Some very painful event sears our view of someone into the depth of our heart and we feel justified acting in a hostile way, from then on. Nothing will undo our mindset. We are not all love and warm hugs toward others. Even in our families we find our minds characterizing others a certain way, even if they are trying to change.

“Christian” love kicks in when human love fails. When someone gives up on us or we give up on someone else, we need the real love, that which covers a multitude of sins, that which is expressed in our Lord’s dying and rising to give us new life. When we worship and hear about Christ’s eternal love, God heals our hearts and helps us to start again. May Christ’s love that has been given to us be poured out from us to others. May we find that renewed peace that only God can give. “Love one another, as I have loved you!”

In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp