If you’re not sure where this day come from or how it suddenly appeared out of no where and you have no idea what it is, you are not alone! FIFTEEN YEARS ago, Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation invented the day to show love to her friends. Ever since then, Galentine’s Day, February 13th, has been celebrated as a way to show the love between girl friends! Since then, Galentine’s Day grew from a simple brunch on a TV Show to a commercialized, highly socially media posted event! Crazy! 

But isn’t love all we desperately want? 

A 2020 YouGov study found that 71% of people globally felt that “being loved” was an important part of their happiness, with many reporting that having strong, loving relationships contributed to their overall well-being. I’m not sure about the other 29%, but I think they weren’t telling the truth. I would guess every single one of us desperately desires to be loved. 

What exactly is love? 

Love is such a hard word in the English language to explain. We use the word love to describe romantic relationships as well as our familial relationships. And we also use love to talk about our favorite food. Merriam and Webster’s dictionary has 13 different definitions with 9 being used as a noun and 4 being used as a verb. All of this to say–defining love is complicated. 

Yet, when we think of how we know when someone loves us, it’s usually found in their actions. We know someone loves us by the time they spend with us, the words they say, the things they do, and the gifts they give.

Love takes action.

Now think about a person who has loved you well–did they spend time with you? Did their words say they loved you? Did their actions show they loved you in the way they served you? Did they give you gifts? 

The answer is probably yes to at least one of these! See, love takes action.

As much as these people may be a model of love, was their love for you perfect? Were they without fault? Have they ever made a mistake? 

If we stop and actually think about the love we have experienced, even the best version of it, it’s still imperfect. The love we often reach to have–from our gals, our families, our coworkers, our teachers, our kids–is imperfect. 

So why is love such a big deal in culture? Because we are longing for perfect love. 

Some of you may be thinking there’s no such thing as perfect love–and to a degree you’re right. There is no human, food, or pet that can perfectly love you. 

Perfect love requires divine perfection which can only be found in Jesus. If love takes action, let me show you Jesus’ actions. 

1. Jesus spent time with sinners. 

This alone is loving because Jesus is divine perfection. He is 100% God–so much so that he was involved in the creation of the world! And Jesus, who has existed for all time, left the throne of Heaven to spend time with us. 

John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

When it says he dwelt among us–that means he spent time with us! Jesus literally left heaven to come to earth to spend time with us. He left perfection to come spend time with the imperfect because he loved the imperfect–for the record that’s us! 

Now, Jesus didn’t just come to earth and stay at a distance, but he actually spent time with his people. Luke 15:2 shares Jesus “receives sinners and eats with them”. Jesus literally spent time with them over meals. And it was his desire to spend time with everyone, but some were willing to spend time with him and others were not. 

If you think about the ones you love, you carve out quality time to spend with them. Why? Because where you spend your time, communicate what you love. Jesus loved imperfect people and came to spend time with them because he loved them! 

Not only did he spend time with those he loved, but he also spoke of his love for them! 

2. Jesus spoke of his love.

John 3:16 may be a familiar verse to you, but it says that God loved the world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus is literally writing the original love letter when he says this. He speaks with words that he loves the world. 

Many of us are looking for words of affirmation–we want to be told that we are doing a good job. We want to be noticed or praised. Or we just want someone to know even the smallest details–both the good and the bad–of our lives and choose to love us anyway. 

There’s this really cool picture of Jesus talking with a woman in Scripture in John 4. We know from the passage that this woman didn’t have friends and pretty much lived in isolation. We also know she wasn’t the goodie-goodie of society. Instead she would be one that others looked down on because she was sexually promiscuous. 

Jesus, knowing her personal history, communicates who he is–that he is the one who can satisfy every longing she has ever had by being the living water. He communicates that what she’s looking for (potentially those words of affirmation) can only be found in Christ. The words he shared with her were a powerful act of love, as he recognized her brokenness but did not reject or shame her. Instead, he offered her a path to transformation.

We see through the woman at the well that Jesus’ love is bigger than our sin. He provided words of love, and offered her help to bring a transformed life through Him. But just like the woman at the well we have a choice as to whether or not we will accept his help. 

There are times where someone has offered to help me and my control issues take over and I reject it (please tell me I’m not alone in this). When I reject it, I actually am preventing myself from accepting their love. 

Jesus works the same way–he showed us his love by the things he did to help us. 

3. Jesus showed his love in the things he did.

Even if you think everything I have said so far is crazy, let me share with you what some historians have said about Jesus. Josephus–a historian during the first century–refers to Jesus as a “wise man” and the “Christ” who was known for his good deeds, including his healing powers and teachings. Though scholars debate the idea of Jesus, Josephus’ writings provide testimony to Jesus’ reputation as someone who performed notable acts of kindness. Just as Mother Theresa is known for her good works, so is Jesus–but even greater. 

Matthew 4:23 says, “And he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 

Right here, we see Jesus shows he loves by physically healing people. This is just one of the many ways he outwardly showed his love. 

When I was 12 years old I started developing some weird symptoms involving muscle movement. For example, I would be walking and randomly fall. Or I would be laughing so hard, but there was no real visible smile. There clearly was a problem in my body. Something was off. I had a problem, and went to the doctor because that’s where we go when we have a physical ailment. I knew I was there was a problem, or that I could be sick, and I needed a physician.  

The same is true for us, but beyond physical. Each one of us are spiritually sick with sin. 

If you’ve ever been around toddlers, you don’t have to teach them how to be bad. They naturally know how to be disobedient, hit, bite, and somehow say no to everything. Why? Because of sin–sin is our disease. We are not naturally good, we are naturally bad and sinful people.

Luke 5:31-32 says, “And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus uses physical healing to explain our need for spiritual healing. What he’s saying is that well and healthy people don’t go to the doctor. Sick people go to the doctor. If we think we are good people, we have no reason to accept Jesus’ healing work. BUT if we recognize that we are spiritually sick with sin and repent, we can experience Jesus’ healing work.

How does he heal us? I’m so glad you asked! 

It’s another work of Jesus that communicates his love. 

In John 15:13 Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” 

The greatest work of love someone can show you is by laying down their life! Jesus did just that! He laid down his life to give you spiritual healing! 

Another passage in Romans 5:8 tells us, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The Bible makes it very clear that the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for us is the fact that Christ died for us. 

It would be very bad news if Christ just died, but he didn’t just die, he rose again. The resurrection of Christ is what gives anyone who believes in Him life. 

Jesus’ love is demonstrated in the time he spent, the words he says, his works he did, AND the gift of life he gives. 

4. Jesus gives you eternal life.

The gift of love we can receive Jesus gives is eternal life. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it like this: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

Salvation is a gift of God! By God’s grace, he sent Jesus to live the perfect life, die the death we deserved, and rose again to give us life. 

What makes this love so unique is that it is perfect love. Every other love culture wants to sell you will fall short. The only perfect, true love–is found in Jesus. 

Just like any gift, you can choose to receive it or reject it. We all have a choice, what is yours? 

Are you still looking for imperfect love or are you ready to experience the perfect love of Jesus? 

For those who are ready to experience the perfect love, Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Receiving the gift of salvation is as easy as saying:

+ I admit I’m a sinner

+ I believe Jesus is God’s son

+ I confess my faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord

If you’ve not experienced the true love of Christ, I want to invite you to do that! 

But if Jesus is your true love, does your life look like you love him?

John 14:15 says that if we love Jesus then you will be obey all he has commanded. So many of us say we love Jesus, but our lives do not resemble a life walking in his commandments. Stop and evaluate your life. Does your life look like obedience to God’s commands? 

Jesus loved you with his time, his words, his work, and his gifts. 

What about you? Do you love Jesus with your time, your words, your work, and your gifts? 

Galentine’s Day is a fun time to celebrate the love we have among friends, but it is still a fractured picture of love. The only true love that we can experience is the perfect love of Christ. He desperately wants you to know of his love, and to love him obediently back. 

Happy Galentine’s Day!!