Love Letter To God

TRUE LOVE..

Valentine’s Day!  The day we celebrate what the fairy tales call, “true love’s kiss.”  But when struggling through the anguish and trauma that is part of divorce and post divorce as well, Valentine’s Day often feels like anything BUT celebration!  

It is a day that reminds you of betrayal, of loss, of being alone, or “shipwrecked love.”  (Although, for some, it can be a reminder of the deception that can come into our lives claiming to be love, but which are, in fact, something far short of true love.)  True love does exist, and true love is real, and true love can be found, experienced, cherished…if you look in the right places

At our church service last night, we were reminded of the fact that people, all people, are fallible and if we are expecting perfection - will disappoint us at one time or another.

However, God is the one who can truly fill our heart’s desire for love, to be totally and completely and unconditionally loved, and to be able to give our love completely to one who desires that love in return.  We reminded ourselves of a few verses along those lines:

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16  ESV

Divorced, married, still single or widowed, God’s love for you is absolute and beyond compare (read Ephesians 3:17-19 to get an idea of HOW absolute).  

However, those of you who have been divorced know very deeply how it feels to have your love rejected and not returned.  This Valentine’s Day, I would invite you to do what we did last night, and make sure that YOU are not guilty of rejecting or treating lightly the deep love God has for you.  I invite you to write God a love letter within the following framework:

My Dearest Loving Savior,

All My Love, 

There is nothing more precious than receiving a love letter from someone you love deeply.  And no one loves you more deeply than God.  Perhaps in the course of your life you have rejected his love, and cast aside the sacrifice he made on your behalf.  This could be a great day to turn to him and say “yes” to opening yourself up to an eternal relationship with the One who loves you most.  Maybe you are a person who has taken God’s love for granted, and though he has kept on giving and giving, you have only kept on taking and taking without stopping to say “thank you” or “I love you, too.”  Maybe you have forgotten how much he loves you, or haven’t bothered to explore how deep that love really is.  Or maybe you do know he loves you, but you don’t act like it!  Another verse we considered last night was 1 John 4:11--  “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (ESV)  

Does your life reflect God’s love to others, or something less?

No matter what else you are doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day, I invite you celebrate it with the One whose love surpasses anything else you can ever experience.  Write the love letter.  Read it to God.  And take some time to read his love letters to you, found in the Bible…perhaps start with 1 John.  If you do these things, it may be the best Valentine’s Day you ever had, no matter what else is going on in your life!