“Jesus Loves Me, This I Know”

Hello Friends!

And Happy Valentine’s Day! I can’t believe that Valentine’s day is just a few days away….which means that February is almost half over. 2023 is sure whizzing by!! Love is a huge part of February; as a matter of fact, on most calendars the month of February is depicted by images of hearts, red roses and other colorful flowers, heart-shaped candy boxes, maybe a few stuffed teddy bears, and many other things that remind us of love. Love is in the air! And so is Jesus’ love for you. But for now, let’s just focus on those famous words that we sing from time to time: “Jesus loves me, this I know.”

Did you know that Jesus loves you not just in February but in every month? Did you know that Jesus loves you not just on Valentine’s Day but on every day? Did you know that Jesus will never stop loving you? Jesus loves you soooo much that he, through the Apostle Paul, gave us a definition of love that reminds us of what love is. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends….” The love that Paul writes about is a love that Jesus gives us so that we can share it with others. This love is what will help people know that they are loved too!

And then, John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, wrote in his gospel, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us…. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them…. There is no fear in love….We love because he first loved us…” (1 John 4:7-12, 16, 18-19).

You see the love that Jesus gives us is powerful: it gives us strength, endurance, perseverance, courage, faith, hope, and determination. It gives us what we need to be who Jesus created us to be and to love who Jesus needs us to love: “let us love one another.” Because “Jesus loves us, this we know,” we can face tomorrow and love like Jesus loves, because that is what the Bibles tells us so. Jesus will never stop loving you! God is love!

This Valentine’s Day, I encourage you to share, with everyone, a love that is patient, kind, caring, nice, friendly, and lasts forever and is not mean or hurtful. Don’t be afraid to put a Valentine’s Day Card in everyone’s box. If Paul can write many love letters to many strangers, and John can tell us that we are love one another because God is love, then we can share our love with those around us. I pray you have a lovely Valentine’s Day!

Your Friend, Holy Spirit!