Power of Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-2New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

There lessons we learn from this first portion. 

-         If we do not love with God`s love we produce nothing of real value.

-         If we do not love the way God wants us to love then we receive nothing of real value.

-         Lastly if we do not love the way God calls us to love than we are nothing.

     Now let me tell you about the origin of Valentine’s Day.  Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.  While in prison,

Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270. 

     The reason message behind Valentine’s Day is for God so loved the world.  The greatest thing we can do for a person is to tell them that God loves them through Jesus Christ. 

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  The love of God is the foundation of faith.  Faith is trusting God for your forgiving you sins of the past, giving you a present reality and hope for the same provision and love in the future.  Two, of the three virtues here are based on love.  Love make faith and hope go forward and have their full effect.  So today let the love of God, increase your faith and set you on a course of hope today.