A Covering of Love
On this Valentine’s Day, I have to share this wonderful weekly e-mail newsletter by Max Lucado. It is about love; it is called “A Cloak of Love.”
Do you own a cloak of love? Do you know anyone who needs one? When you cover someone with concern, you are fulfilling what Paul had in mind when he wrote the phrase “love … always protects” (1 Cor. 13:4–7 NIV).
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is known for its word study, not its poetry. But the scholar sounds poetic as he explains the meaning of protect as used in 1 Corinthians 13:7. The word conveys, he says, “the idea of covering with a cloak of love.”
Know anyone in need of a cloak of love?
A few years back I offered one to my daughters. The whirlwind of adolescence was making regular runs through our house, bringing with it more than our share of doubts, pimples, and peer pressure. I couldn’t protect the girls from the winds, but I could give them an anchor to hold in the midst. On Valentine’s Day, 1997, I wrote the following and had it framed for each daughter:
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I have a special gift for you. My gift is warmth at night and sunlit afternoons, chuckles and giggles and happy Saturdays.
But how do I give this gift? Is there a store which sells laughter? A catalog that offers kisses? No. Such a treasure can’t be bought. But it can be given. And here is how I give it to you.
Your Valentine’s Day gift is a promise, a promise that I will always love your mother. With God as my helper, I will never leave her. You’ll never come home to find me gone. You’ll never wake up and find that I have run away. You’ll always have two parents. I will love your mother. I will honor your mother. I will cherish your mother. That is my promise. That is my gift.
Love, Dad
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Know anyone who could use some protection? Of course you do. Then give some.
Lucado, Max. “A Cloak of Love.” The UpWords Weekly Email Devotional. 14 Feb. 2006
http://MaxLucado.com/newsletter
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