Red hearts, Valentine cards, and a little naked guy with a bow and arrows tell us February is here. It is the season for sweetheart banquets and couple retreats. I have not been able to find the origin of St. Valentine's day. There is a similarity in date to an ancient Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia. The only Valentine I could locate in church history lived in the second century and claimed to be a student of a disciple of Paul. This man, Valentinus, got involved in a Gnostic heresy. I'm not sure how Cupid and Valentinus crossed paths, but apparently they did and the result is Valentine day with an emphasis on romantic love.
In New Testament times, four words expressed various aspects of love. Eros described physical love, and was associated with passion. We get our word "erotic" from this word. Eros was also the Greek name of the mythological god the Romans knew as Cupid. This sensual, lustful concept for love is well known to our society. It is the love depicted by Hollywood, Madison Avenue and the pornography industry. The Holy Spirit chose not to use this word in the New Testament.
Another word used in the first century dealt with family love. The word, storgos, had to do with parental love for children, and the child's love for its parents. The New Testament uses this word only negatively in (Rom. 1:31; 2 Tim. 3:3) to describe the absence of that kind of love in a self-seeking culture. Abortion, child abuse, abandoned babies and the abuse of aged parents show the accuracy with which the Bible describes the "perilous days" in which we live.
The New Testament commonly uses two words for love. Phileo emphasizes affection which develops from mutual response. It is easier to like those who like you. Among other uses, this word may describe the Father's love for the Son, and God's love for the believer.
The word that most Bible teachers consider to describe the greatest form of love is agapao. This kind of love is a love of the will. It involves loving someone even if that one is unworthy of love. This love seeks the highest good for another, even at our own detriment. One who loves this way seeks the best not only for one's neighbor, but also for one's enemy.
The Bible points out that God loved us even when we were His enemies. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son." Christ's love for us required personal sacrifice (Eph. 5:25) and is the wonderful example of the love a husband is to have for his wife. We could never be worthy of that love, yet he loved us and loves us still.
Real love is not marked by some warm, fuzzy feeling, but by the actions it inspires. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
The fulfillment of God's love is a glorious prospect of the believer's life. As fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22), love adorns the life of the consecrated Christian. When God's love is controlling the believer's life, it will cause obedience to Scripture (1 John 2:5) and love to other believers (1 John 4:12). This love seeks opportunity to do good to all (Gal. 6:22) and is wonderfully described in 1 Corinthians 13.
This is a season that emphasizes a worldly view of love. For us who know and love the Lord there is no "season" to promote His love. Let us live in His love daily. This we will do not by talking about His love, but by showing His love through our behavior toward Him, other believers and those who need to be saved.