For when Valentines Day is really hard...

Valentine's Day.

The obligatory "shout your love from the rooftops" day -- that just might really suck for some...

So, what about what's left of that young teen's heart who gave what really wasn't hers to give, to that boy-man... who took what wasn't really his in the first place to ever have?

And what about the girl who would practically sell her soul if only he would pick her...and tell her that he loved her....and really, really mean it this time?

What about the man who just heard that she no longer loves him...in fact - she's not really sure if she ever loved him in the first place?  Or the man who loved long and hard...only to have her taken away from him forever because her body couldn't hold that sickness inside any longer?

And what of the wife who has remained faithful for twenty years long - with little or no reciprocation from the other end - when all she's ever craved is that deep, husband love?

What about the forced smiles all around us with the marriages that are imploding by the couples who don't want anyone else in the world to ever see -- because imagine what that would do to our reputations?

What about the deep soul-tears that have taken place - the wounds so deep - that there just might not be any hope left to fix the mess that you're living right now... or a bandaid big enough to wrap around your heart that is bleeding right out?

What about when all of the second chances have run dry?
And what about the one who has been made to feel unworthy of any kind of love?

What about love for these people?
What about this crappy Holiday then?
.....Or what about any other day of the week, for that matter?

Is there any hope for any of these situations to ever be redeemed?
Isn't that, after all, the silent cry of the world?
Isn't that the question that we all ask?
Who will love me..... for me?

And what does "true love" really even mean in the first place?

Is it really just flowers and shallow sentiment?
Platitudes and easy lovers?
Is it just words wrapped up pretty, but something so cheap it can be thrown away when the feeling is gone and when life gets too hard?

In this world of messes and mess-ups....where we wear bitterness as a protective cloak...this place where our motto is "hurt me once, shame on you....hurt me twice, shame on me...?"  This life where sometimes it's just too painful to give another "second" chance.....

Where trust has to be earned...
and where one event can change the course of our life forever...

Where love is cheap...and where sex is even cheaper...

This space where talk is only just that....and where young girls have forgotten that they deserve to be treated like princesses....and where young men are not taught to respect.  Where girls give sex to get love...and where guys "speak love" to get sex....  Where she pledges her love but throws it away when a better option comes along...or where he says he's hers "forever"....but his definition of forever is really "just until I start to get bored"....

Where we are not made to feel worthy or even worthwhile...
And where we live in the land of the never-ending and always plaguing "if only's..."

If only...I was thinner.
If only...I was smarter.
If only...I had given him what he asked for.
If only...I made a bit more money...then she would have been happy.
If only...I met up to her expectations.
If only...I didn't have a past.
If only...I wasn't such a mess-up.

If only, if only, if only....

In this day where marriage is now believed to be archaic.
Or, at best, it's not really even worth fighting for...

In this world that we've warped and we've twisted...
And with these relationships that we perpetually are wounding and crushing and causing to bleed raw...

Who really would love me for me?....

 

 

The answer?

Who will love you --- for.....you?

 

Jesus will.

He can fill those soul holes.

He can close those gaping wounds.

He can take that sadness that's wearing a smile, and He can replace all of those ashes with real beauty.

He can take your barely tamed grief - because He knows sadness full well Himself - and He can heal.

 

It's kind of His specialty.

 

He can help us see through our pain and our losses - and see through to Him...

He can pick up all of the pieces of our mistakes, and He can put us back together.

He can make us whole.  He can make us like new.

And He can teach us what real love is. 

After all - He is its' Author.

 

And He is the only One who can ever do that.

Take hold of the gift.

Know love for WHO it really is.