Valentine's Day Hope Talk

Valentines Hope Talk 1 Corinthians 13 Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day – Valentine’s Day has come a long way. Today it is one of the most money making days for retailers, so you know you are going to here a lot about it. The powers that be, want people to buy candy and cards. But it is interesting that the media talks a lot about love, but unfortunately they don’t offer any instructions on what love really is, or how to truly love others. As a child one of my favorite parts of valentines day – were the valentines. I would love buying my little box of valentines and to decide which ones to give to classmates. This is not an original with me. I heard it in a sermon over twenty years ago given by Bro. Paul Holderfield. Johnny was not a very popular boy at school, in fact you might say he wasn’t liked at all. It was not anything in particular, well you know the type (maybe even been one of these yourself). Johnny loved Valentines Day and every year looked forward to it. He would start early and make his list, look for special valentines for each schoolmate on his list. But, it sems that all of this effort went astray because he never received a valentine from anyone at school. Another valentines day rolled around and he had his special cards ready to go that day. Off he went to school protecting his cards so they would be spotless upon his arrival at school. As he boarded the bus and was out of sight of his mother, tears filled her eyes and soon were cascading off her cheeks. Oh, how she dreaded his coming in that evening, knowing he probably would not get a single card in return. She prayed diligently for him all day and soon the bus rounded the curve and came to a stop in front of their house. Johnny came out of the bus and she heard him say as he came up the path, "not a one". Her heart broke. then again she heard him say, "not a single one." She didn’t know what she was going to say to him. as he approached her his expression changed to a great big smile and he shouted these words, "not a one, I didn’t forget a valentine for a single one." Love is not about what we receive, but what we give Of course as parents, we give a lot. We give a lot and don’t expect anything in return. A lot of times we end up giving all that we have inside for our kids. And we don’t get a lot in return, we don’t get any acknowledgement for what we have done. And sometimes giving ourselves can leave us feeling empty, and sad. And it is days like valentines Day and all of this talk about love that can remind us of our emptiness. That’s just it, we have to change our perspective, and we have to take some time to think about what love is. Love is not a commodity that we can go to the store and buy and sell. It is also not a feeling that we give and expect to receive. Love is who we are as a person. The bible says a lot about love. The message of the bible is that God is love. The spirit of love is essential to who we are and essential to life. Someone said that they gave a valentine card which said _ I love you more than Kanye – loves Kanye. The message of the bible is that God loves you more than than. Or if the word God makes you uncomfortable – think of it as the spirit of life – is the spirit of love. And the message of life is that sometimes we have to get in touch with just how much we are loved. Sometimes we have to not spend so much time looking out – but we have to take the time to look in. We have to look at our capacity to give, not what we get from others. The most famous verses of love are in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 1 Corinthians 13 New International Version (NIV) 13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecyand can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies,they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Footnotes: a. 1 Corinthians 13:1 Or languages b. 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts body to the flames The good news is that the spirit of life has done all of that for us, in order to help us to be love for others. We have to be careful to give out of our fullness in our spirit and not out of what we lack. We have to give out of what we have in our spirit, and not out of what we are hoping for. LOVE IN THE DRIVEWAY One young boy said, "Love is when his daddy reads me a bedtime story. True love is when he doesn’t skip any pages." I remember when my son Shawn was in high school. Several times he parked his truck in the middle of the driveway. That got my dander up, because I could not get in or out of the garage. One time I happened to come out of the door just as he had parked there and was climbing out of his truck. I gave him the old ’what for’ father-son lecture. Then I ordered him to move his truck out on the street. I was fuming, and as I turned to walk into the house, he followed me instead of moving his truck. I turned to continue my tirade, but he quickly asked me where the end of the lecture went. I asked him what he was talking about, and he reminded me that the end of the lecture was when I said, "I love you, Son, so let’s try to correct this, okay?" That was the end of my anger, and the end of his blocking the driveway. This was also a sign of the love shared between a father and a son. (From a sermon by Bruce Ball, "AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE" 2/15/2009) Love is not how we feel about a person, it is about who we are. Love is who we choose to be in a situation. But more importantly – love is not just our thoughts – love is our actions – what we actually do. So this Valentine’s Day – let us be the love we are looking for. Let us pray……. WHAT'S GOD GOT TO DO WITH IT? If you “Google” the word love, and you have to be very careful doing this, you will find all sorts of websites,120,000,000 to be exact. Here are some examples that you will find: I love Dogs.com I love Cats.com (Although this one is a plea to spay or neuter) I love Cheese. Com I love Lucy.com We love the Iraqi Information Minister.com True Romance Dating Service.com Love Test.com Matchmaker.com The Love Calculator.com On this site you type in your name and your mates name and it gives you the odds of your relationship lasting. Alana and I got 41%) The interesting aspect is that on all these sites, love is seen as almost an entirely human endeavor. [Love from a Kid’s Point of View, Citation: "What Is Love—From a Kid’s Point of View," LightSinger, (accessed 3-14-02)] What is love, from a kid’s point of view? "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love." "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." "Love is when someone hurts you, and you get so mad, but you don’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings." "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay." "Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." "You really shouldn’t say ’I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."