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It's the middle of February, and that's typically when people's hearts turn toward the subject of love. While the world revels in red and pink, in chocolates and balloons, in expensive dinners and impossible reservations, the scriptures tell a different story about the love that God bears for us, and the love we ought to bear for one another.

In John's first letter, chapter 4, we read that God is love. Further, we understand that we are only capable of true love because God loved us first. John is trying to help believers understand that the love that we are able to bear for each other, for the world, and for God, all come not from our own effort, nor from our own desire, but the love we bear is a love that is imitative. For John, our ability to love comes solely from God's willingness to love us first. We thus act as conduits for God's love, rather than generating love ourselves. This may sound cold or unfeeling, but it's actually the greatest news, because God's love, unlike ours, is not subject to the whims of fancy, nor to emotional ups and downs.

It is tempting for us to think of love as that strong emotion related to affection or attraction. After all, all the best romantic comedies teach us that falling in love is something most of us do on a regular basis. We are told that love is a feeling based on the attractiveness of the other person, our personality connections, or mutual desire. But I think the clearest picture of love in the scriptures comes to us from the words of Jesus himself, who says that the greatest love a person can have is to lay down that person's life for a friend. Even further, we read that God shows his love for us in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So in the scriptures, love is not necessarily just feelings of deep affection, nor even a commitment to care for someone when they get old and wrinkly and infirm. Instead, love in the scriptures is decisive action on behalf of another, a belief that the other’s well-being is well worth any sacrifice, and not just that belief, but a willingness to act upon that belief in whatever way might benefit the other most.

This is not to say that romantic gestures are out of place. It is not to say that buying flowers for your significant other means that you're not loving with the love of God. It is to say that the love we bear for one another is often a pale imitation of the love that God bears for us in Christ Jesus. Our loves tend to be fleeting, they tend to be fickle, and they tend to be impermanent. God's love is stable, it is decided, and it is eternal. There is no one on earth for whom Christ did not express the deepest love of God.

So what does this mean for our Valentine's Day? Do you have to throw away the chocolates, wilt the flowers, and cancel those tricky-to-get dinner reservations? Not at all. In all honesty it means very little for our Saint Valentine's Day celebrations. What it should mean for us though, is that the commitment we express on Valentine's Day is but a small sliver of the true commitment that lies within us to care for one another as Christ cares for us. Valentine's Day, and every other day of the year, presents an opportunity for us to express the love of God that Christ showed for us. We may not physically die for one another, but true Christian love means being willing to give up rights, give up freedoms, give up ego, give up being always right, in order that the other person would experience true love in Christ. It means setting ourselves not as the primary subject or object in our lives, but seeing others as Christ sees them, worth living and dying for. True Christian love is neither sappy sentimentality, nor deep attraction. True Christian love goes far beyond either of these, to an abiding commitment to ensure that someone else, that all others, experience God's unfailing active care. It means view and others as more than myself. It means living for the sake of Christ, and for the sake of the world. That's the kind of love worth dying for. 

Wish you the best in 2026,

President Rev. Dr. Mike Swalm

I attended RMC in 2010/2011, gathering credits toward a Bachelor degree at Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute (CLBI). I was with some friends and familiar faces at Rocky, and made new friendships too! All of my fondest memories of that time begin with the group of friends who welcomed me in and loved me as their brother in Christ. 

During my time I served in the dormitory as an R.A. (there was a campus back then!) and also sang in the choir. I shouldn’t neglect to mention those 5:00 am gym trips that turned our legs into jello, or my roommate doing planks for more minutes than I thought were possible!

Since saying goodbye to RMC, life has been busy! I framed houses in Saskatoon and graduated with an MDiv from Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Minnesota in 2015. Shortly after graduation, I married my wonderful wife, and almost immediately after that we began serving Living Hope Lutheran Brethren church in Beaumont, AB. We were there for just over 10 years, and in that time were blessed with four beautiful children and encouraged by God’s people in innumerable ways.

In recent months (as of writing this) we have moved to Camrose, AB., where my wife and I now serve back at CLBI as Office Administrator/Director of Admissions, and Director of Communications (respectively). The change has been big, but we’re excited to see how God will change the hearts and lives of young people through His Word! Come and say hi anytime; the coffee is always on!"

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• Please pray that our students would know God’s love in Christ.

• Pray that our new recording studio would produce incredible content.

• Pray for Mike Swalm and Brad Teigan as they travel to a conference hosted by our accrediting body.