By Ronald G. Davis
The word valentine speaks to us of love. And to love is to be the most like God we can be. Let me repeat that: to love is to be the most like God we can be. For God is love. The disciple who most sensed the love of God wrote to early Christians and to us, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8) and “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (4:7).
In his image, we want the very best for all those dear to us. We want the very best for every person we meet. We want the very best for those we will never meet. That is the “God thing” in us, the very Spirit of God. That is our motive for living a life of service and evangelism.
So, love always involves sacrifice. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16, King James Version). Love cost God his Son. Love always costs. There is an “I’ll-do-this-for-the-good-of-another-even-though-it-costs-me” attitude.
One cannot love without setting self aside. One may sacrifice what he believes is best for himself so that he can provide what is best for another. Exactly what God the Father did. Exactly what Jesus the Son did. Exactly what devoted husbands and wives do for one another. Love allows one to think more of another than he does of himself. That’s the Valentine spirit. For it is the Spirit of God in Christ.
At this Valentine season, let every heart you see remind you that to love is the most like God we can be. Let these elements we consume here at this table sing to us: “Jesus loves me. This I know. For his death has told me so!”
Ron Davis is a retired teacher and active member of LifeSpring Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is privileged to lead Communion meditations regularly.
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