Just in case you have forgotten, today is Cupid’s birthday; at least I think it is.   If Cupid had a birthday I’m almost certain it would be today, Valentine’s Day, the day of love.  Just to help enhance your intellectual side, the name “Cupid” comes from the Latin cupido, meaning “desire.”  Cupid was the god of love in classic mythology.   In early renditions of his appearance before he was pictured with a bow and arrows, Cupid was portrayed with a burning torch and sometimes a whip, as a symbol of his power.  What a transition he has made from this mythical appearance of greatness to that of a chubby, mischievous little child with wings marching at the forefront of a parade of lovers!
While Cupid is the product of evolving mythology, the love he represents is, of course, very real.  Love is an emotion that invades all of our lives in one way or another.   In some cases it is a love driven by physical passion, in others it has its roots in simple friendship, and in still others it is an infatuation with one’s self.  But real love is much more than any of these.  Real love, while channeled toward others, initially grows out of our understanding of God and our relationship with Him.
The Bible verifies this, saying “God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him” (I John 4:16).  The scripture also says that everyone who loves, that is with real love, is born of God (I John 4:7).  So how does one distinguish this real love from all those other types of love?  Well, the apostle Paul has helped us in that regard.  In his first letter to the Christians at Corinth he spelled out the characteristics of real love.
First of all, Paul said that real love is a love that gives (I Corinthians 13:4-5a).   Real love shows patience with that one which is its object and is never jealous of it.  Real love, he says, is never selfish or self-seeking, but is always willing to give everything for and to another.  These characteristics are clearly seen in God’s gift of His only begotten Son for the salvation of the world.  John 3:16 begins “For God so loved the world that He gave…,” and that giving assures us that His love is real.
In the second place, Paul said that real love is a love that forgives (I Corinthians 13:5b).  One version of the Bible translates the apostle as saying that real love “does not keep account of evil.”   In other words, real love forgives its object, regardless of the circumstances.  God spoke of the forgiving nature of His own real love when He said, “I will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).  Naturally, in our own expression of real love, we cannot always forget the sins of others because we are not God.  But we can forgive, and if we have real love for another we will forgive.  In spite of remembrances, real love never holds a grudge.
Finally, Paul says that real love never dies.  Other things, he says, may be short lived, but not real love.   Some think it almost archaic, in this age with its high rate of divorce, to include in the marriage ceremony the words “Until death do us part.”  Archaic or not, those words express the characteristic of real love.  Like the circle of the wedding ring itself, real love has no end.  This, of course, is reflected in God’s unending love for us that He has promised will continue on throughout all eternity.
They sin who tell us Love can die:
With life all other passions fly,
All others are but vanity…
But Love is indestructible;
Its holy flame forever burneth;
From Heaven it came--to Heaven returneth…
                    …From Robert Southey