The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of February 15
Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
Doing everything with an attitude of love can be pretty easy when we’ve had a good night’s sleep, when our fellow commuters are on their best behavior and when our work life and home life are running smoothly.
But when the dog ate the couch cushions for breakfast, or the baby was up all night crying or the commute has slowed to a crawl and we’re running late to work…well, that’s another story, isn’t it? Some days, when it feels like every human being on Earth is on our last nerve, it’s nearly impossible to do everything -- or anything, for that matter -- with an attitude of love.
The reality is that we human beings are flawed and fallible. No matter how hard we might try, we cannot achieve perfection; we cannot do everything with an attitude of love all the time. But what we do have is God’s grace, always and every day. When we fall far short of our goal to act with love, we ask God for forgiveness and for the ability to do better next time. And then, as the Benedictines say, we begin again.
You won’t find Valentine’s Day or Saint Valentine mentioned in the pages of the Bible, nor did Jesus or his contemporaries ever celebrate February 14 as a holiday. Nonetheless, Valentine’s Day can serve as a spiritual reminder to us to strive toward love in all our thoughts, words and actions. Jesus modeled how a life of love is lived out every day, and He gives us grace when we fall short.
Gracious God, You have set a high bar! But with You, nothing is impossible. Thank You for helping me try to live the kind of love Your Son modeled so well. Amen.