A Forever Love

A Forever Love

Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

Isaiah 62:5

One of my favorite verses is Zephaniah 3:17, “The LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Words such as delight, love, calm, and joyful are worth celebrating, and yet they are not what most people think of when they consider Valentine’s Day.

The Amish do not mark Valentine’s Day with greeting cards, bouquets of flowers, or boxes of chocolate. Amish children who attend public school might celebrate by sharing cards and treats, but at home, the holiday passes almost unnoticed. Romance isn’t found in a flowery poem. The Amish find it in the enduring commitment between a husband and a wife. When the Amish marry, they marry for life. There is no thought of divorce. In the same way, God’s love and care for us never end.

Public displays of affection are discouraged in the Amish community. Even at an Amish wedding ceremony, an Amish couple will hold hands after they are proclaimed husband and wife, but they do not kiss during the ceremony.

In our modern world, attraction is often shown by physical affection. In most movies, characters show their love by becoming physically intimate. Yet focusing only on what is physical blinds us to the qualities of a gentler, simpler love.

How will you show your love today? How about with delight, with calm, with your presence, and with gladness? Maybe even with a song? Love is about far more than grand gifts or physical attraction. True, lasting love can’t be purchased with a card and flowers. Instead, it comes from a gentle turning of your attention toward the person who has captured your heart.

Dear heavenly Father, what You created pure, the world tries to counterfeit. I desire to refocus my gifts of love to others—and to You—on what’s given from the outpouring of my heart, not merely bought with my checkbook.