Pastor's Pen: God's love is at work in our hearts

Not only does the middle of each February bring Valentine’s Day which seems to have become more frenetic every year, but this year the end of the month brought some further romantic possibilities with the traditional use for that extra day. But however we react to the commercial feast of St Valentine, or whether or not any women among us took that leap year proposal, there is a sense that for one month at least, ‘love is in the air.’

Whatever our Facebook status in the love stakes, Christians can always have a reason to celebrate the gift of love and the Giver who is the source of all love. The Bible tells us that God is love and whoever lives in love lives in God. It is the love of God that first spilled over into creation and that brought everything into being, out of that overflowing love. It was God’s love that first declared it was not good for men and women to live alone and so called humanity into relationships, first with each other, in homes and families and communities, and then with him through his son Jesus.

It is God’s love at work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which can transform our relationships and enable us to live together in healthy and life affirming ways, learning forgiveness and the healing grace of fellowship in the Spirit.

Romantic love can be a glorious gift and bring the greatest human happiness. But it can sometimes feel more like a ‘leap in the dark’ and when we put too much pressure on our human relationships they can fail us. Drawing on God’s love however can never be such a leap as God’s love can never fail. May we all know the love which reaches out to draw each one of us into relationship with Him who is the source of all love.