Estes Echo

God’s Love

As we approach the season of love, it is my hope that each one of us can shift our awareness for just a moment away from the commercialism of the time of year, and see the splendor and majesty of the love that God has for his children. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.” This brand of love should motivate each one of us to live better and love more frequently.

It is imperative to remind ourselves daily that God loves us. The Bible tells us that God loved us even when we were still sinners in Romans 5:8. Love is so much more than a card on Valentine’s Day, although often that is a fantastic expression of sentiment. Love has a deeper connotation than can be put onto a greeting card. John 3:16-17, 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” God not only sent his son to the earth to undergo the retribution for man, God sent his son to love each soul and to redeem. My goal this Valentine’s Day is not to plummet into the snare that the world has set before us, and believe that love can be equated with chocolates and cards. My love is Christ’s love. Our love as the Church should be Christ’s love.

–Steven Marise