Valentine's Day Sweets

Valentine’s Day is, of course, on Saturday. Naturally, it’s come up a lot in conversation recently, in my case especially in brainstorming with women small group leaders at my church about how to address it in women’s groups, where there are a significant number of single women. Often I use reoccurring themes in my life as muses for blog entries, but I will confess that, although I thought the conversations a good opportunity to blog about Valentine’s Day, I was not inspired by them.

I did, however, gain inspiration for this entry by listening to podcasts on the Web site of one of my favorite authors writing about love and purity, Leslie Ludy (I will note that on limited occasions I have seen her write a culturally myopic comment or two, but only minimally, and she is very genuine and exudes a passion for seeing all her readers and listeners approach purity and relationships God’s way, regardless of their backgrounds).

That said (whew!), one of the reasons that I’ve come to appreciate her so much is that she presents a message of making Jesus the center both in singleness and marriage in a way that many other Christians purportedly providing biblical advice on singleness and relationships don’t seem to convey. When I read or listen to her advice as compared to others, it is always encouraging and a great reminder of what I think we all want our lives in Christ – including our love stories – to look like, but may be afraid to wait on God for.

We are often more prone to listen to advice – both Christian and secular – that allows us to take matters more into our own hands when it comes to relationships in particular. But, to borrow from a book Leslie co-wrote with her husband, I believe in God writing love stories, and that, when He does, they are the most beautiful. I also believe that there are a whole lot of people – Christians included, who never experience a God-orchestrated love story because they are not willing to let God do the writing. But if you’re still waiting to be married, you have the amazing opportunity to let Him script the story.

Regardless of whether you’re married or single, male or female, I would encourage you to listen to some great podcasts from Leslie Ludy, provided below. If you’re single, use them to renew your hope in Jesus regardless of how you may feel about this time in your life. If you’re married, consider how they can be applied to your marriage and maybe how you can give godly advice to single people in your lives.

Whatever your relationship status, you can still use Valentine’s Day to celebrate God’s unchanging, alive love, which never fails or gives up on us. Married or single, let’s celebrate the love of The Only One who can meet our heart’s deepest longing, and allow His love to help us show unconditional love to others.