With another Valentine’s Day gone, I can’t help but wonder if the aroma of love is still filling the homes and hearts of those who embraced the day in grandiose fashion. It has been said that February 14 is not a day set aside for finding new love, but rather a day of appreciation in the form of gifts, acts of service and other gestures for the love you currently have.
What is love? One simple definition is an intense feeling of deep affection. I must ask the question-wouldn’t this type of condition be best served if felt and expressed year round?
I saw a picture of an iceberg recently, including the portion underwater which represented at least 70 % of the total volume of the iceberg and I’m convinced it symbolizes the way most people allow their love to flow. At the surface, our love for one another appears to be worth marveling at. I’m convinced we are merely “touching the tip of the iceberg” of what a real love relationship is like.
I did a little research and found something interesting to consider about the iceberg’s ability to carry it’s greatest volume below the surface yet not sink in the water (its buoyancy). What I learned is this-there must be a perfecting (not equal) balance in the weight of the water displaced and weight and volume of the iceberg. If at any time, the volume of the displaced water equaled the volume of the iceberg, the iceberg would sink.
Perhaps our inability to experience a deeper love is the imbalance in the weight we carry at the surface which causes our relationships to sink before we can ever get below the surface. If we allow ourselves to take off the layers we will see a whole new area of untapped love just waiting to be experienced. How do we experience this love? How is anything deeper than a surface level love possible? I’m glad you asked.
First and foremost, we will never be able to properly love one another until we first love God. 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ( Matthew 22: 37-38) Giving Him our heart first prepares it for an in-depth love with one another. 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. (John 14:15). These commands not only involve “not committing adultery, not stealing and killing one another, but include forgiving often, not repaying evil for evil, and praying for one another to name a few. These actions help to build longstanding love relationships. Loving God includes accepting that wounds, scars, hurts and trials of the past are healed and embracing the truth that He makes us over again and again. It is only after we accept His love for us and all that encompasses that we are able to love one another-EVERYDAY, ALL DAY, IN EVERY WAY, with no need for annualized pretense on a commercialized “special day for love”.
Let the iceberg remind you of the mass of opportunity that is available to go deeper in your love relationships. Whether you verbalize it as “I love you”, “Love you”, or “Love ya”, your actions will remove all doubt and fulfill any curiosity. Like the Bee Gee’s 1970’s hit, I ask you to examine your heart, assess your love for God and acceptance of all of His love, forgiveness, redemption and restoration for you and tell me, “How Deep is Your Love?’