Challenge #38 Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

A friend of mine shared an awesome write up with me yesterday that I would like to share with you all:

"When thinking about what to write about in relation to Valentine’s Day, I started thinking about agape love and did some searching and found this: Holman’s Bible Dictionary defines agape love as "Unselfish, loyal, and benevolent concern for the well-being of another."

Agape is, in contrast, a learned love, not something that is natural with mankind. Agape love is not possible unless the Spirit of God is living and working in a person. Without God’s work on the heart and the actions, no person can rise to love all others as Jesus did.

Agape is not easy. We have to submit to the Spirit and allow the Spirit to nurture in our nature the ability to show patience and long-suffering. Disciples can be ugly, unlovable, demanding, challenging and cantankerous, but agape sees beyond those character flaws to the eternal soul of another redeemed person.

This Valentine’s Day let’s focus on the true love, the agape love of the Bible and not on the man made tradition telling us what love is and should be and look like. The Bible tells us what true agape love is.

1. "Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live. Agape has supremely to do with the will."
2. It is not an uncontrolled reaction of the heart, but a concentrated exercise of the will.
3. It is a caring love one which becomes involved with the need of others.
4. It is does not depend upon the one being loved having to earn such love.
5. It is not an exclusive love expressed only to select few, but an all-embracing benevolence, shown toward all."

Today's challenge is to show your spouse that you love them in a way that you know they will enjoy and appreciate, regardless of what day it is!!! Strive to show your husband/wife that you love them every single day of your life.