Valentine’s Day always brings a lot of joy and excitement and today at GCCS it is no different. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus is asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He replies, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Throughout the gospels, Jesus repeatedly tells us that we are to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and be willing to turn the other cheek. As a result, his command to love our neighbour is not conditional on that person also being a good neighbour, or someone with whom we agree, who treats us fairly, or who loves us in return. Author, C.S. Lewis wrote in his book, Mere Christianity, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” Pastor and author, Tim Keller, once wrote, “If your definition of ‘love’ stresses affectionate feelings more than unselfish actions, you will cripple your ability to maintain and grow strong love relationships. On the other hand, if you stress the action of love over the feeling, you enhance and establish the feeling.” Both Lewis and Keller clearly communicate that love is a verb – it is a “doing” word and that it is precisely when we put it into action that we and others will experience it deepen and grow. With today’s Valentine’s Day and next Monday’s Family Day we have occasions to show love to our loved ones. What if we take the week between to think creatively about how we can better show love to all of our neighbours – especially those who do not show love to us?
