Feature
February 2014
Sue Devereux
Valentine’s Day reminds us that there is only one basic Christian principle – love.
As Christians we believe in love. We aim to practise it, we teach it and we find our deepest sense of fulfilment in love. To be a Christian is before anything else to be a person who loves.
1 John 4:8 declares simply and boldly, God is love.
Love is the essential nature of God, and the defining characteristic of what it means to be truly human. The more we love, the more we become the reality for which we were created.
Marriage is the sacrament of love. It shows through its lifetime commitment that love works. The married couple becomes the symbol of God’s love in the world. And so it is the responsibility of all married couples to hold out the ideals of love for us all. We are not simply talking about romantic love, but about courageous love in the face of trials, forgiving love after failure, the simple love of a neighbour or the joyous love of nature.
Love is catching – the more we are loved, the more we love. And the more we love others the more we are drawn into communion with each other that heals brokenness and allows life to flourish.
Valentine’s Day is for everyone – young and old – to celebrate the many ways God is revealed to us through our human loving. It is a day of praise and thanksgiving for this most wonderful gift.