This Valentine’s Day… I want to connect to God’s love more.

I bought myself chocolate for Valentine’s Day, but I’m down to two pieces. When you don’t have anyone to buy you chocolate, you have to resort to buying your own. 😉 That’s okay though because sometimes it’s nice to be able to take care of yourself and not rely on the efforts of another person. In fact, this correlates to what I’m going to talk about today: self-care.

So, what is self-care? Self-care can be defined as taking action in caring for yourself through behaviors that help one’s health as well as management of illnesses. For me, I used to be very confused with what self-care was. I thought it was a selfish thing people did who were all about themselves. I realize now that I was very wrong about this. There are times we need to focus on ourselves through self-care and practices that make us healthier people.

This Valentine’s Day, I want to reflect on taking care of myself. It’s easy to care about the needs of others and neglect my own. Sometimes, we need to take care of ourselves in order to be better equipped to handle the needs of others. I think a good metaphor for this would be a soldier in battle. How could I attend to the needs of others if I have blood spilling out of my body? First, I need to bandage myself up so that I can be of service to anyone else. Here are some areas I want to work on in terms of self-care: 

• Exercise – a.k.a. the free “drug.” When we exercise, we produce happy chemicals in our brains known as endorphins. Exercising, for me, is especially great in nature. I like to take my dog on walks, and it is a great activity for the both of us. There is something about being in God’s nature that relaxes me. I find God here. 😊
• Spend time doing the things I love – for example, this blog! I enjoy writing here and discussing these topics. This is a way I can glorify God. God has given us all different talents. We can use those to help others and find a purpose as well.
• Listen to music – there is something so joyful in listening to songs you enjoy. Furthermore, when we listen to worship music, they can touch our hearts in spots we need healing and remind us of God.

(These are just three things I thought I would write down. If you have one that you like to do, feel free to comment it below.)

Another thing I want to focus on this Valentine’s Day is Jesus’ love for me. Sometimes, in the craziness of life, it is easy to drift into the other areas of our lives and find love in these things. One thing I have found, however, is that if I attach myself to things of this world, it can be good for some time, but it doesn’t usually last. God is able to constantly love us because He is not subject to human weaknesses.

“God is not human, that he should lie,
 not a human being, that he should change his mind.”~ Numbers 23:19

Human beings are able to change on us. For example, when I look back a couple Valentine’s Days ago, I had a beautiful dinner created by a special somebody. Everything was perfect. Little did I know that a couple years later, our relationship would be over. I had no idea this would happen.

God stays. Jesus is the perfect One to run to. His love is strong and enduring and nothing we could ever do could take that love away from us. When I get filled with God, I see my other relationships improve as well. No longer am I clingy or draining to other people. I’m able to give with a full cup.

So, in short, this Valentine’s Day, I want to get filled with God’s love and take care of the body and life He has given me. As Christians, we can be the glimpses of God’s love in a tough and rough world. I hope you also can let God into those areas of your life that are hurting you right now. It’s accessible, free, and available.

May this verse bring you comfort wherever you are reading this…

God loves you. You are never alone. Walk with God ♡