And they shall know you by your love

When I was in elementary school, the month of February always meant eating lots of conversation hearts and deciding which valentine cards to give to others in my class. In high school, Valentines Day became a holiday that always involved me being jealous of girls who liked to show of all the gifts they had received from their boyfriends. Then when I came to college, I stopped being jealous and scoffed at the sappy sentimentality of the holiday, especially when I learned that the greeting card industry reinvented what was formerly known as St. Valentine's Day in order to make some serious profit. Well, I've come to a point in my life where February 14th, the proclaimed "day of love", has gained a new meaning. It's an opportunity to ponder what loving others---our family, our friends, our community, our enemies--- really means, especially in the way Jesus called us to. In the book The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne puts it this way:

"I started to see that miracles were an expression not so much of Jesus' mighty power as of his love...what had lasting significance were not the miracles themselves but Jesus' love. Jesus healed the sick, but they eventually caught some other disease. He fed the thousands, and the next day they were hungry again. But we remember his love. It wasn't that Jesus healed a leper but that he touched a leper, because no one touched lepers. And the incredible thing about that love is it now lives inside of us...we shall do even greater things because the love that lived in the radical Christ now lives within ordinary radicals all over the planet."

So as Valentines Day is upon us, let it be a reminder of the impact we can have on the world through love, with God's help.