Counting the Ways

Are you counting the ways? If you haven't started counting yet, I remind you that Valentine's Day is just a couple of days away, and it might do you well to get started.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote one of the most well-known love poems ever written. I am sure you are familiar with the first line of the poem, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." In the lines that follow in the poem, she notes the ways that she loves her husband. Sounds like a good exercise to do. So, all you wives out there, get to it!

Just kidding! It sounds like a good exercise for husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, and friends to do. For Valentine's Day this year, stop for a moment and think of someone special in your life and ask yourself, "How do I love thee (that person)?" (Notice I did not say "How in the world do I love thee?") Before you compose your list, consider the question carefully.

The question is, "How DO I love thee?" In her poem, Mrs. Browning's list of ways that she loved her husband seems to be made up mostly of the expression of her emotions and passion for him. Emotions and passion are significant parts of love but that is not all. Perhaps the question, How DO I love thee, should be expanded in its scope to include things that I DO -- my actions. Love involves feelings, but true love is expressed in actions.

You might not receive a Valentine's Day card that says, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee by paying the bills, holding your hand, listening intently, cooking dinner, mowing the lawn, washing the clothes, sharing with you," you get my point. But are not these some actions of love? I challenge you to think about all the things you do because you love that person. Then, make your own list. God did.

God asked the question, "How do I love thee?" and His answer forms a list that is the length of the world's bestseller. His list is written in the Bible, practically on every page. I draw your attention to just three of the items on His list:

1. 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).

2. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

3. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9).

Wow, what a list! And do you want to know something truly wonderful? Who do you think is the "thee" that He would be thinking about in the question, "How do I love thee?" It's YOU! God does not only have feelings for you. He has actions for you! That's the best Valentine card anyone could receive!

Are you counting the ways?