After the Message

Yesterday we celebrated Valentine's day at Ashley Ridge by comparing the generic love our society buys into with God's love, which is sooo much more.

No, I'm not anti-Valentine's Day, but it does celebrate the most basic and surface level of love - the kind that a dozen roses and a day-long romance can contain.

The question - why do we buy name-brand toilet paper and settle for generic love?

From Hosea 11 - here are some attributes of God's love:

v. 1-2 - God's love pursues the object of its affection, even and especially when it's inconvenient

v. 3 - God's love acts in our best interest for the purpose of our best interest and not God's recognition

v. 4 - God's love chooses to lead with kindness instead of push, God's purpose is toward our well-being not winning a fight

v. 8 - God's love is empathetic and passionate

v. 9 - God's love defies retribution; we deserve God's wrath and yet we receive God's mercy

v. 10 - God's love is fierce, none of this cupid baby-with-a-sash stuff, God's love looks like Jesus hanging on a cross bleeding for you and me

Don't settle for a substitute when God is offering so much more in Jesus Christ!