First off, Happy Valentine's Day!! Today is celebrated by so many people and they think about romantic love. And while that's great and wonderful and gives you all kinds of butterflies in your tummy, there's a lot of mystery about the history of Valentine's Day. It was originally celebrated as St. Valentine's Day in the Catholic Church and then in an effort to convert pagans it was celebrated around a Roman fertility festival. Some of the ideas merged and then writers in England and Europe romanticized it. And truth be told, they don't know which St. Valentine it was originally for. 🤷 But what is known is that whichever Valentine it was, he was a martyr of the church. He was going against the status quo of the day to show the love of God. He was spreading the gospel in order that others may know the love of Jesus and the salvation that it brings.
Today I want to share an old post with you. I wrote this 7 years ago actually on a different blog that I used to run. I think it still makes sense to me today. Love starts with loving God so that we can love ourselves and share his love with those around us. I hope it blesses you and that you have a blessed Valentine's day.
Matthew West's song, Hello My Name Is speaks volumes about what we think of ourselves and what we tend to think the most important thing is about ourselves. If you haven't heard it, check it out.
I know that I've identified myself as a lot of the things he mentions in the song. But, I wanted to some time today talking about regret.
Why do we feel the need for regret? I believe it's because we can see, in hindsight, that we did not live according to God's wishes in our lives and we mourn that opportunity. We look back and say a whole list of shoulda, coulda, woulda-s. But, what good does it do any of us? None? Some? A lot? I think looking back is beneficial if we leave out the regret. It's good to look back on our past experiences and think about who we were then, and who we are now to determine if we are better for the experience or not. But, when we start beating ourselves up then what we are actually doing is taking the judgement seat, which does not belong to us.
When we think about judgement we almost always think about not judging others or we will also be judged. But, how often to you/we think about judging ourselves? It's a knee jerk reaction and we most all do it. We make a comment to a co-worker and the rest of the way back to our desk we are thinking, "What a dumb thing to say. How could I be so stupid?" Judgement. We go to the store and purchase a sweater that costs $24.00 and then we see it on sale the next week for $15.00 and we say, "Why did I have to be so impulsive? I should have just waited and saved my money." Judgement. Or we go to the drive thru and see that there is a salad meal for lunch, but we get the double cheeseburger instead and then once we've eaten it we think, "Why would I eat that? I should have gotten the salad. I'm such a fatty." Judgement. Or we look back at a relationship we had and think, "I should have been nicer to him/her, but now I don't have the chance. I was a fool." Judgement. Regret is judgement on ourselves, and judgement is a job best left to God.
If you must look back on your past and really study it, don't judge it, but learn from it. If you did something you didn't like, then find a way to keep that from happening in the future. If you said something you wish you hadn't, then begin to fill your heart with God's word so that what you speak will be filled with His love. And, who can regret God's love? Honestly, that's the answer to regret...God's Love!
There's a song that every time I hear it, I dance and sing and cry because it's so powerful. John Mark McMillian wrote "How He Loves," but most of you have heard it performed by David Crowder Band, and I can't help but just worship when I hear that song. I can't help but just love God when I hear it. I have to be straight with you I like the John Mark McMillian version better. I prefer the phrase "When heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss." But, that's just me. There's another line in there that I want you to ponder today though. "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way, He loves us."
If you have to let your mind dwell on something, don't let it be regret, let it be His love and then you can say "Hello my name is child of the one true King."
Happy Valentine's Day. I love you all, and more importantly so does God.
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