A Valentine's Day Poem Because Christ is Sufficient

I remember Valentine’s Day in 10^thgrade, sitting in English class thinking:

I can’t see the board because there’s a giant teddy bear sitting in front of me.

Of course… even if I could see the board, my senses are too overwhelmed by all of the chocolate and flowers to consider focusing on Shakespeare.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Every year, Valentine’s Day came with a little shard of hope:

7^thgrade: Maybe today I'll find out that someone likes me.
8^th grade: Maybe today someone will decorate my locker.
9^th grade: Maybe today I'll get a valentine from someone who thinks I'm just wonderful.
10^th grade: Maybe today I will get one of those secret Valentine Gram things being sold in the cafeteria.

10^thgrade Hannah never would  have admitted it, but I wanted to feel loved.

I wanted a teddy bear.

I wanted a flower.

I wanted chocolate.

I wanted a Valentine Gram.

Because receiving a Valentine Gram meant that someone thinks I am special.

That was the bottom line.

It wasn’t actually about the chocolates,

Or the flowers,

Or the teddy bears.

It was about proof that I’m special.

I wanted to be someone’s most important person.

I wanted that attention.

I wanted to be valued by someone else, other than my parents.

I wanted affirmation.

I wanted to have worth.

I wanted to feel loved.

I wanted to feel loved and I thought that a teddy bear would do it.

But it’s not enough.

A teddy bear is not enough.

A dozen roses won’t satisfy.

The desire that I have, that desire to be loved and valued, cannot be met by a heart shaped box of chocolates or even by the special someone who gives them to me.

That desire to be loved and valued can only be satisfied, completely satisfied, in Jesus Christ.

Because His love for me is constant.

It doesn’t depend on me and on what I say and what I do.

He loves me unconditionally.

He loves me just because He wants to! And I can’t do anything about it!

This is the love that I long for!!

But instead of realizing that, I’ve been looking for it in teddy bears and love poems on Valentine’s Day.

I don’t have to keep looking. Love is here.

Teddy Bears are cute. But they aren’t unconditional.

Roses smell good. But they don’t last.

Christ’s love for me is greater.

It tells me that I am valued.

It reminds me that I belong to Him.

When I feel lonely, unimportant, and unspecial, His love whispers to me that I am His, that He is mine.

[Sidenote: Resting in the sufficiency of Christ’s love for me isn’t just something that I resort to until Prince Charming comes along.

No relationship can survive with the pressure to wholly satisfy.

Regardless of relationship status, Christ’s unchanging love is not only sufficient, but also necessary. Not only is He enoughto satisfy, He is also the onlyone who actually can satisfy my desperately longing heart.]

Now… am I completely satisfied in Christ? Do I always find my comfort in His perfect and unconditional love for me?

No.

There are moments when I forget that I already am loved with the greatest love that the world has ever known.

There are times when I fail to remember that Christ’s love for me is so great that He literally died for me, so that I can spend eternity with Him, starting now.

There are days when I still want a heart shaped box of chocolates.

And on those days, the God of the whole universe continues to pursue me with unshakable love that never fails.

“Hannah,” He says. “I love you.”