With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, many of us are looking for the perfect card, candy, bouquet, or some other gift that we hope will express our love for our significant other.
Personally, I know I can’t go wrong when I get my husband, Steven, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
The minute he lays eyes on these melt-in-your-mouth, sweet-and-salty confections, it’s as if a choir of angels breaks into song, “You light up my life. You give me hope to carry on …”
Any Debby Boone fans out there?
He and I both have a sweet tooth.
But every year, I tell him, “Do not get me candy.”
One year, he bought me a heart-shaped box of Millionaires and he ended up eating most of them.
Thank You, Jesus. Saved once again from the wicked snare of temptation.
But I did cave the year he got me a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Half-Baked.
After all, if you can’t eat sweets on Valentine’s Day, when can you eat them?
Right?!
All kidding aside, there is one surefire way to blow your entire Valentine’s Day.
It is something that, when you do it, you are definitely not loving.
In fact, you’re doing just the opposite.
No, I’m not talking about hating.
But it can do a lot of damage in your relationships with other people.
Lean in and listen to what your Beloved has to say to you about what not to do this Valentines Day, or any other day of the year for that matter:
“My treasure, the snares of the flesh can trip you up as you walk through this world.”
“These traps are cleverly devised by the enemy of your heart.”
“One of the most common and destructive snares is judgment—a negative focus on the visible flaws in your own and others’ appearance and behavior.”
“Even though you may not realize it, you are doing math when you judge another person.”
“You are taking away from their value in order to add to yours.”
“You do this because you don’t understand the unsurpassable value you already have.”
“I long for you to believe the truth that you will never be worth more or less to Me than you are in this moment.”
“It is impossible to unconditionally love someone and judge them at the same time.”
“Judgment and no-strings-attached love are mutually exclusive.”
“And judging yourself is just as destructive as judging someone else.”
“When you find yourself steeped in self-judgment and judging others, you need to come back to ‘God’s Love 101’ and meditate on truth.”
“The truth of My limitless, unchanging love for you and the entire human race.”
“The ultimate worth of anything is determined by what the highest bidder is willing to pay in order to possess it.”
“You, along with every other person who has ever existed, or will exist, have unsurpassable worth.“
“This is because I paid the highest price—My life—so that you could become Mine forever by believing into Me.”
Dear reader, what are you going to do this Valentine’s Day?
Today’s post is an excerpt from my newest book, Fifty Days in His Pursuing Love Devotional: Getting to Know the One Who Loved You First and Loves You Most.
Leave a Reply