Empty Love

Here we are, Valentine’s Day, the day of LOVE.

I can remember as a kid going to the store to pick out my Valentine’s Day cards and making my Valentine’s Day box for the big party at school.

There was excitement, anticipation and boredom – I hated having to write my name on the individual cards.

However, all the excitement wasn’t over the act of giving out these special little cards.

Oh no, the frenzied feeling was over the thought of how many cards I would have in my box when I opened it at the end of the day.

Now that I think about it, this was the stone age version of making a post and seeing how many “likes” we get!

Sometimes I would sift through the cards to count and see how many I got.

Sometimes I would sift through the cards with great speed, searching for the one card from the boy who I really wanted to like me.

Sometimes I would sift through the cards and find ones from kids who I didn’t ever talk to, or even worse, kids that I didn’t even like.

Regardless of the number of cards or the amount of candy attached to them, I always just throw them out the next day. Now don’t get me wrong, if there was chocolate attached, I ate that first and then through the card out 😊

I can remember there always being a after-taste of disappointment when this grade school ritual was over. None of it really meant as much as I imagined it would.

Even if I got a card from the boy I wanted to like me, it just had his name scribbled on it like everyone else’s.

I didn’t really put much effort into my cards either because like I said at the beginning – I hated having to take the time to write my name on them. Sincerity overload, right?!

Now that I think about it, this is probably why I don’t buy cards in general very often. (Welcome to my counseling couch moment!)

All of it seemed so empty.

Actions without meaning is what I call Empty Love and that’s what I believe the apostle Paul was talking about when he wrote:

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and 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.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

It doesn’t matter if you are married or single on this Valentine’s Day, actions without meaning don’t fill up the love bucket.

You will hear me say this over and over, until we know and accept God’s love, we cannot love ourselves; and if we cannot love ourselves, we cannot love others.

My prayer for us all today is that we take the time to allow God to show us His love.

May we notice all the ways He writes His name on our heart.

And may today be the day we fall in love with ourselves.

<>< KC