Give Love

Valentine’s Day is a special day when love is shown in many components. Cards are exchanged, chocolate is given, flowers are sent, special outfits are worn and butterflies are felt in stomachs when a look is traded between two young lovebirds. Did you know that nearly one billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year? Did you know that 85% of those cards will be purchased by women? Valentine’s Day has a multifaceted history and many legends are associated with it. However, today let’s only focus on the commercialized outlook of what Valentine’s Day is; a celebration of love.

I’m not smart enough to appropriately convey the mass what the word LOVE holds. However, being a father, a husband, son, a brother and an uncle, I’ve experienced a lot of love in my life and in many different forms. To me, love is and comes from something much bigger than human origins and bears the burden of a multitude of meanings. We “love” everything from Sriracha sauce to grandparents, but in extremely different ways hopefully! True love is a powerful force that has the ability to change people, outlooks, attitudes, careers and countless of other events. Personally, I believe that love is needed to navigate the winding roads of life. We all have moments in our life when we need to affirm that we are indeed loved. Whether it’s from the gentle voice of a loving mother, the helping hand from a beloved friend, the hug of a fellow church member, the wagging tail of a devoted canine or uplifting words from a concerned coworker… we all have times when love from another is needed to push us through a hard-hitting moment in our life.

So why do we set a day aside to celebrate love? Well, in short, because most people love to love! Love is something instilled in us and it feels good to furnish love. Despite the risk of rejection and embarrassment, most people take a leap and try to express love in hopes of either uplifting someone or having love reciprocated. We love to express love to children to see their tiny smiles and hear their squeaky laughs. We love the soft squinting eyes of grandparents and the gentle smiles of appreciation. Love is seen and often shown through thoughtful and purposeful acts of kindness, which is what Valentine’s Day embraces. So this Valentine’s Day, be the one to encourage someone. Give a card to someone who has been on your mind, reach out to the sibling you haven’t spoken with in a while, sincerely smile at the cashier, open the door for your spouse and purposely show love to those who have been a positive influence to you. Love is bigger than you and me. Adrian Rogers said, “If you need love, give it.” Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to give love.