“Who is It?” the shy young man asked. It turned out to be the friend’s cousin Mary. But since he never met her, this introvert immediately responded, “Oh no, I’m not going on any blind date!”

“Hey, don’t worry about this one,” his friend said. “Mary is a terrific girl, and trust me she’s really pretty. But if you don’t believe me, I’ll tell you how to get out of the date if you don’t agree. This is what I do: I go to the girl’s house to pick her up, and when she opens the door, I check her out. If I like what I see, then great, we’re all set. But if she’s ugly, I fake an asthma attack. I grab my throat like I am choking and scream ‘aahhhggg!’ So we have to call off the date. Just like that; no problem!”

The shy young man thought about it. He still wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to appear scared, so he agreed. Besides, the whole scam seemed easy enough if he had to use it.

So the big night came. He went to pick Mary up at the house. He knocked on the door and she opened it. He looked at her and to his surprise, his friend was right. She was beautiful! He stood there not knowing what to say.

She looked at him for a moment, and then she grabbed her throat like she was choking and screamed, “Aaahhhggggg!”

Chances are you’ve been rejected by someone at some time in you life because, for whatever reason, you didn’t measure up. You didn’t drive the right car, have the right job, or mix with the right people – the list of potential “flaws” is endless.

But the great thing is: God doesn’t look at us that way. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God’s love for us isn’t dependent on anything superficial, but on His deep and abiding love for His own. He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Because God loved us first (1 John 4:19), we love Him in return – not with a sticky sweet, romantic, twitter-pated sentimentality (“Jesus is my boyfriend”), but with a passion for His supremacy borne out of thankfulness for His sacrificial love for us.

God pours out His love for us by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) so we can reach out and love all kinds of people, regardless of their outward appearance or the rejection they’ve felt from others.

Let’s use this season of love to savor Christ’s love for us and then practice spreading His love to others so they too might have joy.

Loving you in the LORD,

Pastor Bill Linton

We all know that Valentineʼs Day is more likely designed by Hallmark than by God. Thereʼs nothing in the Bible about such a “holi- day.” But it doesnʼt hurt to think about love on a cold February day. After all, itʼs part of the definition of God Himself: “God is love” (1 John 4:8 & 16).

Hereʼs the way Jesus laid it out. He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you should love one an- other; even as I have loved you, you should also love one another” (John 13:34).

Why is this commandment called “new?”

The initial standard of love for others was based on our love for ourselves — “love your neighbor as yourself.” But here, Jesus ʻups the anteʼ so-to-speak and makes His love for us the standard. Heʼs the measure of what love is to live up to — and thatʼs something brand new.

Our love for ourselves is uneven, incomplete and sometimes even distorted into selfishness. But Jesusʼ love for people is pure, sacrificial and unconditional. Thereʼs no higher standard to be found.

Throughout the New Testament, we find this standard placarded before us. We are to forgive as Christ forgave, bear burdens like Jesus did, give as Christ gave, and accept others as He accepts us.

This is Godʼs love for us — and our love for Him is translated in the way we love others. We do what is best for them; not necessarily whatʼs best for ourselves. Practicing this kind of love transforms marriages and relationships of all kinds, and makes us more like Christ.

This year, as we make Godʼs mission of reaching lost people our own, letʼs never forget that love is our highest and best motivation.

— Loving you in the Lord,

Pastor Bill Linton