Like so many other things in life, love can be a two way street. Of course it doesn't have to be, we can love ice cream but that doesn't mean it will love us back, and there have been too many stories of people who are obsessed in what they believe is love with someone who definitely doesn't return their affections. But usually we think about love as a two way street: I love you and you love me. In these types of loving relationships they can span the distance from more friend like love which may last a very long time but never gets very deep, to love that with each new level and depth reached just seems to go deeper, wider and longer with potential. It's not easy to reach that level of love because it requires a ton of trust, and not just trust and belief in your partner, but trust and belief in yourself as well.

One of the reasons some people become their own worst enemy and end up in a string of unfulfilling and even damaging relationships is because they doubt their own value and whether or not they're worthy of being loved. Until you can get to the point of not only truly loving and valuing yourself, but also the point of seeing yourself as worthy of being loved, I don't think you can get to that deep love (which is bad news for those hoping to be celebrating love with someone special this Valentine's Day).

This isn't just true about our human relationships, it's about our relationship with God too. Every time you doubt whether or not God loves you, it hurts Him. I know, we do some pretty stupid (even spectacularly embarrassing) things on a weekly or even daily basis. We also spend probably more time than we should failing and not living up to the expectations we set for ourselves, regardless of how unrealistic they are. We also tend to try too hard to live up to some metric that we think will make God love us more, or make sure His love for us doesn't stop.

Maybe the best news we can all get this Valentine's Day is that God's love for us knows no bounds. God loves us so much He was willing to send His son Jesus to die on the cross for your sins and mine, because He loves us, and as it says in Ephesians 3:18-19a: "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully."

This week as we look ahead to Valentine's Day, I encourage you to open your heart and mind to the deeper deeper love that can exist, which is when you are able to recognize, appreciate, and most of all feel worthy of being loved. Why? Just because you're you. Maybe the best Valentine's Day gift you can give yourself is to commit to learning to love yourself and God more and learning to accept God's love for you.

"What moves God is not just your love for Him, but recognizing His love for you. It pleases God when you know you are dearly loved. That's why the Scripture says, "Come boldly to the throne." Don't go to Him feeling unworthy." Joel Osteen

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