The Importance of a Healthy Love

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 The Importance of a Healthy Love

 I John 3:1,”See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some experts agree that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D.   Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine.”  February 14^th gradually became the date for exchanging notes of love, and the rest is history.

Jesus, the spotless Lamb slain for humanity, sent an eternal note of love and hope to a lost world when He died on Calvary’s bloody hill.  Our great God of peace and Holy love removed the veil of hostility and unworthiness to provide us a Doorway into heaven.  (Ephesians 2:14, John 10:7). The Cross Shows us the Importance of Maintaining a Healthy Love.  In shedding His blood for us, our Wondrous Redeemer bestowed upon us the greatest gift that He could possibly give — self-worth and value – FROM HIM!  Christ’s valentine of love gives us a new identity, one in which He removed our cup of pain and granted us access to His boundless love and freedom.

Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech said, “…We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.”  We see then that – a Healthy Love Helps our Lights to Shine during Tumultuous Times.  Ecclesiastes 2:26 says, this kind of love pleases God. (Author’s emphasis).  A godly life, filled with HIs love, will authenticate the gospel we bear during the pressures of life.  A Healthy Love is Devoted, Dedicated and Single- Minded in its Pursuit of Pleasing Christ.  Someone once said, “Between the great things that we cannot do, and the little things that we won’t do, lies the danger of – doing nothing.”  A healthy Christ-like Love is Unconquerable and Unstoppable.  Love is the ultimate guardian of the mind, soul and body for the Believer.

Roseann Sdoia was watching the 2013 Boston Marathon when the bomb went off. The explosion severed the bottom of her left leg, but the firefighter who helped save her life never left her side. Mike Materia held her hand, calming her down as they rushed to the hospital. He later visited Sdoia as she recovered, waiting with her for hours at doctors’ appointments. Almost four years later, he proposed to the woman he helped rescue, and their love story even inspired a book.  No matter how love is birthed, always keep Jesus at the center of your life and romance can blossom even during times of chaos.

After I was miraculously saved and delivered from a life of drugs and alcohol, I began to read the Bible.  After running across Proverbs 31, I asked the Lord to bring me a woman that was described there; one that loved Him and would love me till the end of our lives.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in the former Soviet Union, Anoosh Markosian, a devout born-again believer, had been praying for a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American preacher to come to Russia, find her and marry her.  After I read Proverbs 31, I began to have dozens of dreams about a woman I knew I would meet and marry someday.  Little did I know that while I was living in California and praying for a Proverbs 31 woman – she was living behind the Iron Curtain!  My brother-in-law, an evangelist, went to Russia and needed an interpreter, and – as only God could do – Anoosh ended up serving as his interpreter for his meetings in the underground church.  Before he left to come back to California, my brother-in-law, Dr. Gene Neill, wrote me a letter and in the letter was a photograph of Anoosh. He knew I wanted to correspond with someone behind the Iron Curtain.  When I opened the letter I recognized that she (Anoosh, an Armenian Christian) was the woman of my dreams.  I proposed to my wife Anoosh through a telegram.  I had never met her face-to-face, but had over 40 dreams about her.  It took multiple trips to the Russian embassy and an incredible amount of faith and prayer on both sides of the world, but God, who is love (and desires to share it with you and I), made a way for Anoosh to come to America.  There is no end to God’s love and simply no end of what God will do for those who love him.

 But as it is written: ” Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (2 Corinthians 2:9).

 “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments…” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

 A Healthy God-style Love is the Referee and the defining difference when it comes to the motive of how we act in our relationships.  If we are single for example, God’s Healthy Love makes one feel complete until we are married, if marriage is our desire.  Healthy Love Keeps One Pure While Waiting on our Mate.  If we are married, the pure Healthy Love of Christ becomes the common thread in the marriage to Maintain its Stability and Provide an Antidote for nearly all marital problems.  Whether we are single or married, the Good News is that Christ inexorably determined from the cross, through His penetrating Love, to bestow upon us the ability to pierce through any dark areas and bring the redeeming light of His holiness and purpose to bear on our lives.

 A Healthy Love that Flows Through a Marriage that lives up to Mutual Responsibility will Stand the Test of Time.  This communion and intimacy between marriage partners is designed to reflect the image of God and provide the context for a lasting relationship of love and respect.  And old proverb we would do well to remember about entering marriage:  Marry a Man or Woman without a biblical mission and you will have no eternal vision; Marry a Man or Woman without His eternal vision and you will violate your biblical mission!  Whatever state you find yourself in, always remember that you are of great value and highly loved by God.  This year, ask God for a Healthy God-like Love and spread it around!  Why?  Because possessing and spreading God’s Healthy Love is our eternal mission

Little did St. Valentine realize the incredible world-wide impact his note to the jailers daughter signed, “From your Valentine,” would have on you and I.  The real meaning and purpose behind Valentine’s Day is to express our love by action.  This February, why not point your family toward the true significance of this special day?  Re-inject it with its original meaning – unconditional love – God’s love to someone in need.  Visit someone in a hospital or an elderly person in a nursing home.  After you send your card and favorite flowers to your loved one, spread God’s love to a hurting soul, a neighbor, a co-worker or that check out person at your local supermarket – you’ll be the richer for it.

 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).