Love Beyond One Day
I’ll be honest. This year I’ve been wrestling a bit with Valentine’s Day.
On one hand, Allison and I are celebrating twenty eight years since our engagement. That feels significant and worth honoring. On the other hand, Valentine’s Day will be spent traveling, packing, lifting, and helping move her mom into an independent living apartment. It is the right and most loving step, but it is not easy. Transitions rarely are. There is work to be done, emotions to navigate, and very little that feels romantic about it.
And then there is the noise. The reminders everywhere tell us that Valentine’s Day should look a certain way. Grand gestures. Big surprises. Perfect moments. I can feel that pull. The subtle pressure to do something impressive, even when life itself is already full.
As I’ve sat with that tension, I keep coming back to what I know to be true. The way Jesus teaches and lives love was never meant to be contained in a single moment on the calendar. Love is not something we perform once a year. Love is something we are invited to practice daily. It shows up in ordinary moments and long seasons, in faithfulness and patience, in choosing to show up for one another again and again. Real love is not flashy or easy to photograph, but it is deep, enduring, and quietly holy.
Over time, love has become less about grand gestures and more about intentional presence. Less about pulling off the perfect moment and more about staying faithful when life is complicated. Scripture names this kind of love as patient and kind, a love that bears with one another, hopes, and endures. This is the love Jesus points to when he says, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
As you prepare for Valentine’s Day in the coming week, remember this. God’s love in Jesus meets you exactly where you are and invites us to live that love with one another every single day. Sharing patience and kindness. Bearing with one another. Asking for grace to endure the hard moments. This is love as Jesus lives it, and it is more than enough.
With Gratitude,
Rev. Rodney Whitfield
Senior Pastor
Aldersgate UMC