Valentine’s Day 2014 has come to an end and now the half price chocolates will be on sale soon.  Long after the sale bins are emptied and the bouquets wilted I will still consider every day an opportunity to celebrate love.

Every day we are given should be just another chance we take to live out love in action.  After all, love is an action word or rather should be. Real love has battle scars from doing,  sacrificing selfish desires, and giving when it wasn’t easy. Real love bears the fruit of service to one another.

My husband never fails to spoil me on Valentine’s Day with jewelry, flowers or a date, and sometimes all three. Obviously, I am always tickled pink and feel special by his gifts, but how I truly know he loves me is by the day in day out things he always does.

I’ve been recovering from surgery this past week and he has been my greatest help along with my children, who love to be momma’s helper. He had his hands full those first few days with our children’s needs and the house, that’s for sure! Parenting in itself is a daily giving of love without receiving much gratitude for what sacrifices are made. Real love doesn’t ask for something in return. Real love requires “blood, sweat, tears, and time.” Real love isn’t wrapped up in a pretty heart-shaped box smelling of decadent chocolates. It comes with gut-wrenching agony at times due to the things we must endure or put aside in order to care for the ones we love.

I’ve been on the receiving end of some very wonderful loving gestures and actions and I’ve also been the one giving until it hurt. God expects us to love one another and has commanded that we do so. What a tall order this is! To love like Jesus? We need to renew ourselves daily with the strength of the Holy Spirit just to love like He does. Loving people, even our own precious children, requires hard work and putting ourselves last much of the time. But, God has loved us even in though we are greatly flawed and maybe even grossly unlovable at times. It’s the very least we can do in honor of His love for us….to love one another – not only in words, but  also in action.