14 Feb, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day: Saying it in the language of love

Mi aime jou...

Ta gra agam ort...

I love you!

No matter what country or lifestyle or age, the language of love comes though the same – beautifully filled with romance (and sometimes candy, flowers and cards).

Known to many as Valentine's Day, Feb. 14th’s beginning are not as easy to come by as the languages of love are, such as out first two - Mi aime jou, Creol, and Ta gra agam ort, Gaelic. But the legends behind the start of this romantic day, some will argue, are those made of love, and lest us not forget a kindly cleric named Valentine who died more than a thousand years ago.

It is not exactly known why the 14th of February is known as Valentine’s day or if the cleric Valentine had any relation to this day. It’s hard to trace the roots to this day of love’s history from the centuries and customs it has seen but there are some legends to which we might owe some source of history to Valentine’s day.

 
Story courtesy of news.google.com.
Image courtesy of googleimages. 
1 Corinthians 13 (ESV)

The Way of Love

 1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
What does God's Story teach us about True Love?
In a word, Everything!  God's Story is His Love Letter to us today.  In His story He expresses His Love for us and His plan for us to experience that Love for an eternity.  It it weren't for God's Story, we really wouldn't know the meaning of the word.
 
Take a look at that definintion again from 1 Corinthians 13 phrase by phrase ...
 
Love ...
is patient and kind; 
does not envy or boast; 
is not arrogant or rude. 
does not insist on its own way; 
is not irritable or resentful; 
does not rejoice at wrongdoing, 
rejoices with the truth. 
Love bears all things, 
believes all things, 
hopes all things, 
endures all things.
Love never ends.
How can I connect today's God's Story scripture to My Life?
  • Take some time on this Valentine's Day to thank God for His unconditional love and acceptance.
  • Tell God how much you Love Him today, as well.  Even though He does know, He does like to hear it.
  • Ask yourself some hard questions today about how well you are loving others.  Spend some time asking yourself if the love you express toward others reflects the qualities from the above list.
How can I connect Today's Story, My Story, and God's Story to Others?
  • Read today's God's Story scripture to a close friend and ask them to let you know how you are doing when it comes to loving others.  
  • Ask that same friend to help you love others well by letting you know when your love doesn't match this list.
  • On this day when the whole world is talking about love, make a conscious effort to express God's Love to someone you see today.
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The Daily Bide is brought to you by a team of writers from Youth for Christ/USA. The writers all have various years of experience in youth ministry but share a common bond in serving Jesus and discovering what it means to abide deeply everyday and to connect God's Story with those around them. A number of the Daily Bide writers have also written portions of our 3Story® resources. You can check out our resources at the 3Story.org website or connect with our writers at 3story@yfc.net. If you have a question or a story you would like to share, please reference the Daily Bide date in your email.

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