For some Valentine’s Day is not a great day to celebrate.  We have a number of “singles” in our church and several “widowers” as well and Valentine’s Day seems to focus on “couples”.  For many the day just brings back memories of loved ones gone on, or being terribly alone on a day that is supposed to celebrate LOVE…

So today, for those who are indeed celebrating the day with that special “someone”, or are struggling through the day by themselves, I hope these scriptures will encourage you and focus you on the One Who loves you more deeply and honestly than anyone else could.

1.  “So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”  Genesis 29:20

2.  “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalms 37:4

3.  “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:  If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

4.  “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.”  Song of Songs 1:2

5. “Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.  If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.”  Song of Songs 8:7a

6.  But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”  Ruth 1:16 – 17

7.  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”  Numbers 6:24-26

8.  “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.   It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.   When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13:4-15

9.  “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  Mark 12:33

10.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

11.  “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children.”  Ephesians 5:1

12.  “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.”  Proverbs 10:12

13.  “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”  Romans 12:9

14.  “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”  1 John 4:12

15.  “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  Romans 5:5

16. “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”  1 John 3:18

17.  “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  Philippians 4:8

18.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

19.  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  1 John 4:7-8

20. “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.”  Proverbs 30:18-19

21.  “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”  1 John 4:16

22.  “We love because he first loved us.”  1 John 4:19

23.  “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  Colossians 3:14

24.  “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  John 15:13

25.  “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  Matthew 22:37–39

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™