The Truth About Love
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
I’m one of those goofy girls who loves this day. I’m not crafty or creative enough to do all the Pinterest-y heart-shaped pancakes or handmade valentine cards but I love the idea of a day set aside to be intentional about loving on my people. I know, we need to be intentional every day. We want to be intentional every day. We intend to be intentional every day.
But then the car line and the laundry and the whining and the {you fill in the blank} get all up in our intentionality and we find ourselves praying for just a moment of quiet … but not too long a moment because then we’ll have to go see what is going on because it’s too quiet. Can you relate?
So, back to my fondness for Valentine’s Day. My daughter is almost 14. A few months ago she and I were talking about boys and relationships and marriage and happily ever afters. She made this statement that took my breath away, “Mom, all I really want is what you and Daddy have.”
{Cue sobbing momma moment.}
When you hear something like that, it makes you even more aware how much your child is watching and learning and evaluating what she sees in you. I won’t lie — to hear her say that felt really good. I mean, I want her to have {one day, a long time from now!} what her daddy and I share. An abiding love grounded in the Lord and a commitment to serve Him.
But it also made me realize something else, I need to teach her the truth about love. I need to talk to her about the difference between being in love and being committed. I need to make sure she understands she won’t always feel like loving but the best gift we can give is to love anyway. I need her to know it isn’t easy but it is worth it.
So today, this day when we celebrate love, I am making a commitment to my daughter {and her future husband} to have the hard conversations, to talk about the uncomfortable stuff, and always to point her back to the truth of Scripture. I want her to know love looks like this:
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 ESV
And only through that love of God can we ever love like this:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears al things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a ESV
On Valentine’s Day and every day, let’s remember what love really looks like!
How are you intentional about teaching your children what love is?
Cheering you on,
P.S. I’m writing a series all month about investing in our marriages! I’d love for you to join me as we look at 28 ways to show our love for our husbands!