Jesus Is the Perfect Giver of Love  

As we observe Valentine’s Day this weekend, are you looking for love? Or are you celebrating a love that you’ve already found? In either case, I would like to point you to the perfect person for the occasion. And I do mean perfect. He outshines any of the characters in those Hallmark love stories. As you may have guessed by now, I’m referring to Jesus.

Jesus knows absolutely everything about you and still loves you anyway. He is aware of your strange little quirks as well as your more admirable qualities. He knows all about your past, including any skeletons lurking in your closet. He is familiar with your weaknesses as well as your strengths. He has witnessed your proud achievements and He knows all about the times when you’ve shamefully faltered. Nothing about you, even in the inner recesses of your heart and mind, are hidden from Him. Yet He still loves you.

At the same time, Jesus loves you enough to inspire you to be better than what you are. Although He loves you as you are, He wants you to be the best you can be. He desires what is good for you and will encourage you and enable you to possess it. He not only guides you to follow the best paths in your life, but He makes you better as you walk in intimate fellowship with Him. The more you’re around Him, the more you become like Him. He can actually transform your character and impart His own wonderful qualities to you. You won’t ever be perfect as He is in this life, but you can keep growing to resemble your greatest of loves.

Jesus also loves you enough to tell the truth. He will be honest with you about the way this world really is, as well as about yourself. He will let you know about the reality of sin in order than you can experience the joy of salvation. He will point out your personal sin and guilt so that you can see your need to receive forgiveness and cleansing. He will give you the hope of a glorious eternal existence with Him in heaven, but will also warn of the reality of the awful prospect of hell. He won’t tell you that you’re safe and good when you’re not. He’ll love you enough to reveal the issues in your life which need attention so that He can help you deal with them. He’ll love you enough to discipline you when you need it, not simply to punish you, but to correct you and to get you back on the right track.

 Jesus’ love for you is more than a warm feeling which may come and go over time or depending on the circumstances. He is fully committed to you. He will truly love you forever, even if you fail to receive His love or reject Him altogether. If you refuse His love and face the consequences in this life and in eternity of doing so, it will break His heart. He would do anything for you. He would give His very own life for you. And that’s exactly what He did. “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). “Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6, 8).

No one loves you more than Jesus. So if you’re looking for love, look to Him. And if you’re already receiving and experiencing the blessings of His love, rejoice in it, be grateful for Him, and share His love with others.