By Thomas Moll
Director of Content & Innovation
February 14 is Valentine’s Day. So, let’s talk about love. There’s a great little book by C.S. Lewis called “The Four Loves.”
First published in 1960, the book makes a distinction on the outset between “gift-love” and “need-love.” “Gift-love” is God’s love, a love that’s not transactional. “Need-love” is the love we’re born to desire and to give.
As C.S. Lewis puts it, “We are born helpless. As soon as we are fully conscious, we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them if we are to know anything, even ourselves.”
This was a great distinction for me when I read this as a teenager. Teenagers are needy! They’re in a developmental stage that requires love and a feeling of safety as they weather the storm of understanding who they are.
But guess what? You and I are still needy! We need to know that we’re loved as we weather any change, any challenge, any loss. We thank God that He needed nothing from us to show His great “gift-love,” a love that does not ask for anything in advance.
We hold on to Bible verses such as Romans 5:8 (ESV) that remind us that, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross was all love. A love that didn’t wait for us to have it all figured out or to be close to perfect. Not only that, Ephesians 2:8 reminds us that the Spirit then gives us a gift of faith.
God keeps giving and giving, which is exactly what we need, because we continue to hunger and thirst for the love that only He can give.
As you reflect on Valentine’s Day, take some time to think about the gifts God gives you today. He doesn’t try to woo us with chocolate or diamonds; He gives freely the comfort and peace we so desperately need in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
May His love overflow in you to offer others a love that’s not transactional, but points to the One who we can say is, Himself, love.