For Those Who Feel Unloved This Valentine's Day

The Valentine holiday of love is here, and for many, Valentine’s Day means feeling forgotten or unloved or lonely. The love theme behind this day can get buried under all the pressure, expectations, and mixed emotions.

Stephanie Rische, in her post “For Anyone Who Feels Underloved on Valentine’s Day,” says: “If this is a hard holiday for you, I won’t pretend there are any magic words that will make it easier. But I want to say these words anyway, to let you know that you are not invisible. You are not alone. And even when it doesn’t feel like it, you are loved. If you’re feeling loved already, God is inclined to pour out even more love on you—the excessive, abundant, extravagant kind. And if you’re having a rough Valentine’s Day, I think he’d like to just sit there beside you and let you know you’re not alone.”
It can be challenging for that to feel real when everyone around us seems to be receiving bouquets of roses and boxes of chocolates or other sentimental gifts, but the Bible gives us endless reminders of His perfect love for us.
Pam Kanaly shares ten verses on Crosswalk.com that remind us, no matter our relationship status, that Jesus is our truest love:

• Precious one, you might not know me, but I know you like none other.  Psalm 139:2

• I am your most beloved companion.  Psalm 119:63

• It is my desire to overwhelm you in my love.  1 John 3:1

• I chose you when I planned creation.  Ephesians 1:11-12

• Nothing you have even done can separate you from my love.  Romans 8:38-39

• You are not a mistake.  Psalm 139:15-16

• I am healing all wounds and brokenness of heart.  Psalm 147:3

• I will never stop doing good for you.  Jeremiah 32:40

• I will never, no never, leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

• You are my treasured possession. No one loves you like me.  Exodus 19:5

Reading those verses helps me adjust my perspective of love. The purest, best love isn’t found in the gifts and Cupid’s arrows and “be mine” candy hearts, but instead in our Heavenly Father. I’m reminded that my own love falls short so often, and His love never will.

Rische shares, “My love isn’t close to God’s love. It has conditions, it lets people down, it’s forgetful, it’s self-centered and fickle and cantankerous. But my prayer this Valentine’s Day is that God will weed out my own love from my heart and replace it with his love. Love that is unconditional and pure and selfless.”Instead of falling prey to feelings of inadequacy, comparison, or guilt this Valentine’s Day, let these words from Scripture fill your heart with a peace that you, single or dating or married or in between, are dearly loved. Whether this is your first year alone or your fiftieth, God’s love will never leave you nor forsake you. You are never alone, even when the loneliness starts to creep in.Just as Ruth, a young widow giving up her own life and home to support a struggling mother-in-law, waited many years before Boaz became her kinsman-redeemer, we can find comfort in Scripture that the Lord is writing beautiful, redemptive stories with our lives. They might not all lead to fairytale “happily ever afters,” but when we seek Him in these seasons of our lives, however challenging they may be, we find that He is constantly at work. What a remarkable gift!Crosswalk.com blogger Dena Johnson shares more of Ruth’s love story in this post, including this powerful takeaway point: “We should be focused on knowing God, on becoming like him, even as we keep our eyes open to God’s hand moving around us. We should make sure that we are looking for the most important character traits and not getting caught up in what the world says is important. Our eyes should be on God in this season.”Even if roses don’t land on your doorstep this Valentine’s Day, know that you are fiercely loved by a good, gracious Father. He will never stop doing good for you. May this year be a reminder that His love is the truest of all, and may He fill your own heart with that love. You are cherished!

Credit: Rachel Dawson is the editor of BibleStudyTools.com

Publication date: February 12, 2016