Special Occasions
Every year, as certain dates approach, store aisles transform—sometimes turning red and glowing with hearts, roses, chocolates, and cards as Valentine’s Day draws near. Then, as the calendar rolls on, those same aisles shift again, dressing up for Easter, Mother’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, and other marked days that invite us to celebrate. Today we will look at A Love Deeper Than Roses and Cards.
Sweet or Painful
For many people, depending upon the event, it’s a sweet and meaningful celebration. For others, it can feel commercialized, emotionally heavy, or even painful. But regardless of how one sees it, Scripture makes something unmistakably clear:
- Love was never designed to be confined to one day on the calendar. Biblical love is deeper, broader, and far more enduring than roses and cards.
- Scripture pushes us beyond special occasion love. It calls us to a love that is consistent, rooted, and durable—a love deeper than roses and cards, because it flows from God Himself and is shaped by His truth.
Love Begins With God, Not With a Calendar
The Bible doesn’t present love as a cultural invention; it presents love as a divine reality. The Apostle John, traditionally identified as one of the inner circle of Jesus’ twelve disciples and by profession a fisherman, wrote down the Holy Spirit-inspired word of God in describing who God is:
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8, NASB).
Love is not whatever we feel in the moment. Love is not a feeling. Real love is anchored in God’s character—obedient, holy, truthful, faithful, and purposeful. And because God’s love is not seasonal or based on celebratory moments, our love shouldn’t be either. In fact, Scripture presents God’s love as steady and sustaining—especially visible in how He cares for His people day by day:
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22–23, NASB).
New every morning. That’s the cadence of Biblical love. Not “once a year.” Not “when it’s convenient.” Not “when I feel appreciated.” Love that renews and continues—because it is sourced in the living God.
The Difference Between Sentiment and Substance
Valentine’s Day love, or “single day event” love, often majors on sentiment—feelings, romance, attraction, and mood. Biblical love can include affection, but it never reduces love to a feeling. Biblical love is covenantal and active.
Jesus defines the shape of love with a startling kind of realism:
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13, NASB).
That verse isn’t about balloons, chocolate, flowers, or special events. It’s about sacrifice. And it implies something crucial: the deepest love is often costly, unseen, and repetitive. Love is not primarily proven by what we give on a holiday; it’s proven by what we carry, endure, and choose in the ordinary grind of life. That’s why 1 Corinthians 13 doesn’t read like a greeting card. It reads like a mirror. Love is patient. Kind. Not self-seeking. Not easily provoked. In other words, love has staying power:
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4–7, NASB).
Love Is a Daily Obedience Before It Is a Daily Emotion
One of the clearest ways Scripture exposes our shallow definitions of love is by linking love to obedience. Jesus says:
“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15, NASB).
That’s not romantic language. That’s covenant language. Love is demonstrated—not merely declared—by consistent obedience to God. And that obedience is meant to be woven into everyday life.
Deuteronomy describes love for God as something carried through the normal routines of the day:
These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:6–7, NASB).
That is 365-day love: morning love, walking-around love, at-home love, tired love, and start-over love. Love that shows up in a thousand small decisions that rarely make it into a photo or a post.
The Cross: The World’s Clearest Definition of Love
If you want a definition of love that no holiday can compete with, look to the cross. Scripture says:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8, LSB).
God didn’t love us when we finally became worthy. He loved us while we were still rebellious. That kind of love isn’t merely affectionate; it’s redeeming. It moves toward sinners to rescue them. It acts in truth and holiness to do what we could never do for ourselves.
This is where biblical love becomes different from the world’s version. Cultural love often says, “I’ll love you if you meet my needs.” Gospel love says, “I will seek your good, even at cost to myself,” because that is how God has loved us. The Apostle John wrote down the Holy Spirit-inspired word of God:
We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19, LSB).
So the deeper love we want to practice is not generated by man’s willpower. It is fueled by a prior love received.
Love Rejoices With Truth, Not With Make-Believe
Another difference between holiday love and biblical love is that biblical love is anchored in truth. Paul writes:
it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; (1 Corinthians 13:6, LSB).
That verse means real love does not pretend sin is harmless. Real love does not flatter someone into destruction. Real love does not sacrifice righteousness just to keep peace. Love tells the truth because truth protects. Truth heals. Truth leads to life. That’s why biblical love includes correction, forgiveness, boundaries, and repentance. Not because love is harsh—but because love is holy.
Love Is a Lifestyle: Godward and Neighborward
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He didn’t give a holiday answer. He gave a total-life answer:
And He said to him, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND” (Matthew 22:37, LSB).
Note: Words that are capitalized represent words quoted from the Old Testament (God speaking in Deuteronomy 6:5 in this case).
Matthew 22:39–40 (LSB) says,
And the second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.
That kind of love is comprehensive. It covers private thoughts, public speech, money decisions, forgiveness choices, temptations resisted, and service offered. It is not limited to romantic relationships either—love extends to neighbors, spouses, children, fellow believers, strangers, and even enemies.
Jesus goes further:
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44, LSB).
Holiday love rarely survives offense. Biblical love absorbs offense and continues in obedience.
What 365-Day Love Looks Like in Real Life
A love deeper than celebratory moments doesn’t require grand gestures. It requires humility (who you truly are on the inside) and humbleness (how your humility shows up on the outside).
- Love is patient when you want to snap back (1 Corinthians 13:4).
- Love is kind when you feel unseen (1 Corinthians 13:4).
- Love forgives when pride wants repayment (Colossians 3:13, NASB).
- Love serves without keeping score (Mark 10:45, LSB).
- Love speaks truth with humility (Ephesians 4:15, LSB).
- Love keeps showing up—especially when it’s ordinary.
Paul summarizes love’s daily aim like this:
Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 16:14, LSB).
All. Not some. Not once a year.
A Better Celebration of Love
When love is treated like an annual celebration, it becomes fragile. When love is treated like a lifelong calling, it becomes strong.
- You can still enjoy Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, and other marked days, but you can’t depend on just those days to prove love.
The truest love is not measured by one impressive moment. It’s measured by a steady life shaped by Christ, a love rooted in God’s character, defined by the cross, guided by truth, and practiced in daily faithfulness.
- Roses fade.
- Cards get thrown away.
- But the love God calls us to is built to endure—because it comes from the One whose compassions are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23, NASB).
If You Only Read One Verse on Love, Read This One
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved (2 Corinthians 12:15, KJV).
A close inspection of this verse shows that Paul is describing a Christlike, self-emptying love—one that gives without keeping score, serves without demanding reciprocation, and remains committed even when that love is misunderstood or unappreciated. In other words, it’s 24/7 (twenty-four hours a day, 7 days a week), not momentary or showing love only when something is wanted in return.
Love worth living is 365 days a year.
Send Us Your Prayer Request
2 Questions Many Ask
- Am I Truly Saved? Discover the answer — 👉 Click here.
- Why Self-Help Books Don’t Work Long-Term: 👉 Find out. Click here.
Prayer Request?
- If you have a prayer request or comments, 👉 click here.
Make an Eternal Difference
If these messages benefit you in any way, please consider donating to help us bring more of the Word of God to others, on what it means and why it matters, through Radio, Television, YouTube, the Internet, and Social Media. Any amount is appreciated by clicking here. Romans 10:17 reminds us, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” It may be your contribution or prayer that allows someone to hear God’s Word and to be a part of someone receiving salvation.
You can also:
- Text: GIVE to 844-553-1590
- Mail: PO Box 210615, Nashville, TN 37221
Find Us Here
- Visit our YouTube channel by clicking here.
- Visit our Facebook page here.
- Subscribe to our audio podcasts:
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 and from the Legacy Standard Bible © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org