February is a quirky little month. It keeps us on our toes with everything from its difficult spelling (that middle “r” gets me every time), to its odd number of days (a mere 28 days . . . except when it has 29), not to mention what is arguably the world’s most absurd “holiday,” Groundhog’s Day.

Quirkiest of all may be Valentine’s Day, a day marked by hearts: red decorative ones, edible candy ones, and, inevitably, a few broken ones. For many of us—single, married, young, old, rich poor, man, woman—it can be a day that highlights our loneliness, sadness, and deep unmet longings. Valentine’s Day, like the love it celebrates, is full of both beauty and brokenness.

Every one of us longs to love and be loved—we were created for it. But love of any kind in this broken world is hard. As Karen Swallow Prior says in this month’s featured article, “It’s a world in which loving someone—a child, a sibling, a spouse, even a pet—all but guarantees the pain of loss.” It’s true. Every type of love we give or receive will ultimately fall short . . . except one.

The love of God never disappoints and never falls short. It’s steadfast, never ending, always pursuing. In Psalm 136:2, the psalmist reminds us that God’s “steadfast love endures forever.” Paul tells us in Romans 8, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” His love will never fail.

My hope for us in the midst of this quirky little month is that we would each know more of the greatest love there is. And that his love would remind us that, in Christ, we are accepted, celebrated, rejoiced over, and loved with an unfailing love.

With much love,
Courtney