In Honor of Valentine's Day..

I've been thinking a lot about love; the Love of Christ. He is the perfect example of true, genuine, pure, and unconditional love; of which we all need every second of every day. I came across a section of scripture yesterday after church and wanted to share it.

Alma 7:11-16

 11And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.

 13Now the Spirit ^aknoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the ^bflesh that he might ^ctake upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

 14Now I say unto you that ye must ^arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

 15Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth ^abeset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

 16And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will ^aremember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

 This struck me with such force (thought I'd read it a thousand times before) that I couldn't really say anything else the entire day. Some of you may have noticed my quiet nature yesterday..I promise you, I am ok.

First of all..if that's not love, I don't know what is. He took upon Him our pains and afflictions, that "He may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities". No greater way to say it..That pretty much sums up my thoughts, but then when I started writing this post. I read the section again. It doesn't stop there. He tell us that Christ suffered for us and why, commands us to repent and keep the commandments, and then promises blessings!

I know I may seem a BIT excited about this, but I can't help but point out that this is pretty amazing. If you sit down and think about what it is that we are commanded to do and then compare them with the promised blessings..I believe you'll find that the blessings outweigh the commandments by..well a lot. Seems to me like we got the better end of the deal. I believe I'll take eternal life for 1000!!!

Anyway..I'm done. But I just wanted to give thanks where it's due and say that even if you don't have a Valentine today, it doesn't matter. You have the pure love of Christ...and it's unconditional.

Oh..and I made these today. A-MAZING! They were easy to make, no baking, and easy clean-up. Not to mention...DELIGHTFULLY SATISFYING! Enjoy!