"The Power of Christ’s Love In Us"Love is a powerful emotion for most people. Young children need to feel loved in order to feel like they belong to someone. Without love they feel abandoned and isolated, rejected and a nobody. As they grow older, feelings of love revolve around sexuality and relationships. Our value and worth are determined by how we fit in and get along with one another. Even young adults fall into this trap of feeling worthless if they are not in a serious relationship. Middle-aged people are not immune either; mid-life crisis is all about how we feel about ourselves. If we feel unfulfilled, it can be traced to feelings of insecurity about who we are or what we have not accomplished in our lives, which is related to contentment in our love relationships. Senior citizens need to give and receive love also. Again, it nurtures their sense of value and worth, which provide our reason for living.Love is powerful and leads people to believe that whatever they do in the name of love is good. But this is not true. Love needs to be defined clearly before it can be acted on properly. No one defines love better than the One who defines Himself as love, and that is God. "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ‘God sent his only son into the world, so that we might live through him’" (1 John 4:10). St. Paul adds, "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).This is how God would have us to understand love. It comes to us through faith, which is created in us by the Holy Spirit working through Word and Sacrament. This faith receives the love that God places in us, giving us value and worth based on the works of Christ on our behalf. Christians then pass this love onto others through our daily activities and relationships. This powerful love is based on giving to others rather than on receiving from others. It begins with God and then returns to God as it flows through God’s loving people.God’s love is the love that makes all other loving relationships all that they can be. Without God’s love, all other loving relationships are simply selfish and self-serving relationships. It is God’s love that bonds a man and a woman together for a lifetime in marriage. It is God loving a man and a woman first that enables them to be willing to give themselves fully to each other and not fear what the future might bring. Content in God’s faithfulness, they will be content with each other because God has promised that His "grace (undeserved love) is sufficient" for every situation.God’s love is what binds parents to their children and children to their parents. God’s love is what makes friendships lasting and even makes us good workers. Knowing that we are loved by God gives us the motivation to be giving in every aspect of our lives. Content in God’s amazing love through Jesus Christ makes us free to give of ourselves freely and abundantly. It is good to know God and His love for us through Jesus Christ. It is the power of life and salvation.As we think about love during February, may we remember that it all begins with our loving God. Because of Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, we need never feel abandoned or rejected, worthless or unnecessary. We are here because God wanted us and needed us to receive His love and share His love with others. Be the valentine to others that Christ is to you.