STOP AND THINK – You can always give without loving, but you can never love without giving. (Amy Carmichael, 19th-20th century Christian missionary and author)

In the USA today thousands of Valentines cards, boxes of candy, and flowers will be given to express love. They are pleasant gifts, of course, and they symbolize the real significance of love, as Carmichael has pointed out. Love is an action word, a deliberate giving of oneself to another and acting toward that loved one in his or her best interest.

Jesus, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13)