Oh, to Be Loved!

 

A few days ago, I was on my way to work, half awake and half drifting, when the thought of Valentine’s Day slid into my mind. Red roses. Restaurant bookings. People rehearsing what to say, what to give, how to show love in a way that lands well.

It is always striking how much effort we put into loving, or at least into proving that we do.
Some people plan for weeks. Others panic the night before. Some hope to be chosen. Some pretend they do not care at all. Beneath all of it is the same quiet want. To be seen. To be held in someone else’s regard.

And somewhere between bus stops and traffic lights, I had a gentler thought.
If we can love like this, if we can ache, hope, give, wait, and sometimes even break over love, what does it say about the One who thought love into existence in the first place?

Most of us think of love as something we fall into or out of. Something that grows when it is fed and shrinks when it is not. Something that depends on being good enough, kind enough, chosen enough. We learn early that love often comes with conditions, even when it is offered softly.

Yet there is another kind of love that does not wait to be earned.
The kind that does not scan your flaws before deciding. The kind that knows your worst days and still stays. The kind that does not withdraw when you get tired, confused, or quietly lost.

Some people call it grace. Others call it mercy. I have come to think of it as an everlasting kind of love. It is the sort that keeps showing up even when you are not looking. The sort that carries you through moments you later realise you could not have survived on your own. The sort that saves, not just in the dramatic sense, but in the everyday ways that matter most.

We talk about salvation as if it belongs only in sermons or old stories, but really, it looks like this. Being loved when you have no words for yourself. Being held when you feel unsteady. Being given another chance when you thought you had used them all up.

So yes, celebrate love today. Buy the flowers. Send the messages. Let yourself feel the sweetness of being human.

But somewhere beneath all of it, remember this.

Before we learned how to wrap love in flowers, before we named it romance or friendship or family, love was already spoken into being. It was placed inside us first. That is why we recognise it at all. That is why it moves us so deeply. So even on a day shaped by romance, love does not have to stay narrow. It can look like checking on a brother. Sending a message to a friend. Sharing a meal. Giving something small with real care behind it. All of it still counts. All of it still carries the same simple truth.

There is a love that does not expire. A love that does not drift. A love that chose you long before you ever thought to choose it back.

And in a world that keeps asking us to prove our worth, that kind of love is the truest gift of all.

Happy Valentine's Day.