Today is a day to celebrate love, and I hope that anyone reading this blog can say that they are loved and have someone to love. Many think of Valentines Day as a day to celebrate Romantic love, which it can and should be, but if we limit our thoughts of love to romantic love, we're depriving ourselves of so much love and happiness!
I have a wonderful DH (Dear Husband, whom I introduced in my very first blog post) who is exceptionally cute and smart and kind and faithful, and who has been my honey for over thirty years. We have six wonderful children who are now mostly adults. I have two wonderful parents who have been married for almost 63 years and have continually blessed my life and the lives of many others. I have six siblings with families of their own, numerous in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many good friends and neighbors and co-workers.
I cherish the relationships and love that I have with all of these people in my life, but the best kind of love, the love that I am striving to develop in myself, is the pure love of Christ. In her post "Noble and Great", BellaOnline talks about God's love as described in 1 John 4:19: "We love...because He first loved us." Isn't it easy to love back when we know that we are loved? But God loves all men and women without reservation, no matter what our faults and failings may be.
Perhaps my favorite verses about love are these from my favorite book:
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
Moroni 7:46-48
The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ
It is my hope that I can develop this true kind of love, the best kind of love, for everyone.
Happy Valentines Day!
