⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7-12)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

The shops have cleaned up the Christmas decorations and decked themselves in shades of pink, red, and white with candy hearts and cards. February 14^th commemorates St. Valentine, one of two 3^rd century martyrs named Valentine. It has become a secular holiday celebrating romantic love. Though later legends surrounding the Saint Valentines arose with some romantic overtones, one of the earliest legends involves the healing of his jailer’s daughter.

This legend illustrates the power of God’s love that overcomes human inclinations of enmity. Jesus taught, “⁴⁴ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45) Healing the child of the person persecuting you is an amazing expression of love. It did not spare Valentine of Rome from execution. Yet he demonstrated and shared a love inspired by Christ, an act of love only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. This kind of love is an extension of God abiding within us and empowering us to see (and love) through the eyes of Christ.

Loving one another with the self-sacrificing love that Jesus loved us is not easy and never has been easy. It is counter cultural. It is, in many ways, counter intuitive. That kind of extreme love goes against our innate instinct for self-preservation. The command of love for our enemies is challenging. Enemies, by their very nature, are not easy to love. Yet, Christ managed to love friends and enemies alike. With God’s help and guidance, we try to obey that command to love as well.

We pray that Christ’s love is ignited within us for the sake of the world. We pray that we are empowered to love, especially when it is challenging for us. We pray God’s kingdom comes among us and God’s will is done among us. We pray God’s love abides and is perfected in us.

The grace and peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.