God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son

Today's Valentine Countdown began with the hymn "God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son."

The focus was GOD'S LOVE IS FOR EVERYONE.

The scripture for this is John 3:16 (and we included Doctrine & Covenants 34:3). I pulled out my absolute favorite Valentine ever to go with this discussion:

(I really wish I knew who created both the original version of this as well as this particular image, but I do not. I cannot take credit for it. I'm thankful, though, because it has blessed my life!)

We discussed whether or not the scriptures say that Christ's Atonement is just for any particular group, or whether it was for everyone. It wasn't a divisive act but an inclusive one.

Then we read one of my favorite stories, You Are Special by Max Lucado.

We discussed the original meaning of this story, that we need not worry what the world thinks of us only what God thinks and let His love be enough, but then I turned it into a discussion of how we need to broaden that to how we look at others. In addition to ignoring the marks others give us, we should also take care to not give marks to others, even if it's just in our minds.  The Atonement was both individual and personal and Christ would have atoned even just for me or you, but it is also infinite in that it was done on that individual and personal level for everyone. If each person matters that much, we need to treat each person as the valuable child of God that they are.

Finally we ended with one of the most life-changing quotes I've ever heard:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whome we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours." 

-C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Each person then privately thought about a person they didn't usually see as a child of God or possible god or goddess; they made a list of positive things about that person and then decided on and wrote down a planned action for treating that person more like the valuable immortal that they are.