This is love

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

- 1 John 4:10

Flowers don't mean you are loved. An expensive dinner doesn't mean you're valued. A box of chocolates doesn't mean that special. Those are just things. Things that fade, that die, that waste.

That's not love.

Love doesn't wilt. It doesn't go bad after its predetermined shelf life. Love doesn't hang in there for an hour and a half in its nicest dress and heels. Love doesn't come in an expensive bottle only to be used up and thrown away. It doesn't wrap itself around your wrist until it tarnishes or goes out of style. And love doesn't exist on just one day. 

Love created you. Love breathes life into your lungs every moment of every day. Love knew you before you were born and knit you together in your mother’s womb. Love knows every thought that fills it your head and the very number of hairs that grace it.

Love keeps record of every tear you shed, rejoicing with you when you rejoice, and mourning with you when you mourn. Love has never left you, never forsaken you.

Love has seen you in every way, shape, and form, and even still, love chooses you. Love was nailed to a cross for you. Love has forgiven your sins and redeemed you.

And Love will pursue you all the days of your life.