lent is about love

You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever anyone has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect harmony.
~ Colossians 3:12-14

Love is in the air. It is that time of year again. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and of course there are colors of red and pink everywhere. Heart shaped boxes are filled with yummy chocolates of all sorts and big white teddy bears are being purchased by the dozen. People are clothing themselves with reds and pinks and different shaped hearts to express their joy on this day of love.

It is also the season of Lent. Lent is a time of reflection, a time to work on your relationship with God. Often times when we think about Lent we don’t think about hearts and red roses like we do on Valentine’s Day. We think more about temptation and what sorts of things we are going to "give up" for forty days. Some people will even forget all about Lent until after Valentine’s Day, but isn’t Lent all about love?

Lent is a time when Jesus "gave up" all the temptations of this world simply because He loved us. We are all God’s people, but we are not living in harmony. We are selfish, greedy and stubborn. We all have someone that we need to forgive, someone that we hold a grudge towards. Today take time to think about the people that you need to forgive and do just that, forgive them. This Lenten season try giving up hatred and try clothing yourself with Love! To show forgiveness is to show God’s love.

Prayer: Dear God, please help us to forgive our enemies and to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Help us to be tolerant with one another just as you are with us. Help us to break down barriers and learn to love!

~ Sheri Menke