Weekly devotional

Eric Johnson, El Dorado Corps Officer in The Salvation Army

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we start thinking about how to express our love to those special persons in our lives with either a card, flowers, chocolates or a romantic dinner. This is the way many people today view this special day: a meaningful time to express their affection and love toward loved ones and friends. Interestingly enough, this particular holiday has its roots in Roman festivals of love and agriculture. It also has been associated in the Catholic Christian church with three saints who were martyred during the third century of the Roman Empire for their beliefs on love. Yet, the greatest expression of love was by the One who loved so much He paid the ultimate price in expressing that love.

Think of it this way: what would you do to save a family member – say, a husband, a wife, a son or a daughter? Any parent would, in all likelihood, be willing to sacrifice their life to protect his or her spouse or children. Let’s go a little further; would those same parents be willing to sacrifice their lives for a relative, maybe a close friend or possibly a good neighbor? It's possible some people might risk their lives. Yet what about people who annoy us, or total strangers, or even some we might consider enemies? Probably no one would. Yet there is one who did this for us even knowing all our faults. He willingly gave up His life to demonstrate His love for us.

This kind of love is rare. This kind of love does not show itself with cards, flower, chocolates or other gifts. This kind of love is what true love is defined by – the one who lays down his life for his friends.

Know this, Jesus laid down His life so we could become His friends. More important to us is that we could become friends with His Father. Understand, up to the point that Jesus came into this world, everyone since Adam and Eve have been enemies of God. Yet despite this, God showed us what true love is when He sent His Son Jesus into this world so we would no longer be His enemies, but His friend. I leave you with this thought: who is your friend, God or this world?