As many celebrated another Valentine’s Day with their sweethearts, some took time to contemplate, “What is love?”

Love thy neighbor

For Tryst Falls Baptist Church, the annual Valentine’s Day banquet, held after worship services Sunday, Feb. 12, was a time to celebrate love of all kinds: God’s love and love for one another.

“Good family love spreads out to the community. Good church love spreads out to the community,” said the Rev. Thomas Dunn, Tryst Falls Baptist Church pastor.

Dunn said that years ago the church had a traditional sweetheart-style banquet focused on couples. As there were more single members of the church, the focus shifted to just love.

The lunch Feb. 12 was less formal than most Valentine’s Day banquets. The menu included fried chicken — a less romantic, but more communal meal.

“Eating together is a tradition of community,” Dunn said.

He said that’s a challenge for many families in modern society: to find time at the dinner table together.

On Feb. 5, Dunn preached about marriage. On Feb. 12, he preached about the broader concept of love.

“In First John, it just says, ‘…God is love.’” Dunn said, thinking on his favorite passages about love from the Bible.

Dunn recalled the story of Jonathan and David in the Bible. Jonathan was the natural heir to Saul’s throne but still interceded when Saul tried to have David killed.

“To me, that’s a very practical definition of love that’s a different context than marriage,” Dunn said.

Dunn can go on and on coming up with verses about and examples of love in the Bible.

“I think the Bible is just full of (love),” Dunn said.

Finding a mate

Jason Harrell spent Feb. 8, wrapping about a four-part series about love and relationships for the youth at Northern Hills Baptist Church.

Harrell, youth minister at the church, spent the first two weeks of the series talking about the modern concept of dating compared to the Biblical way of courtship.

Harrell said dating as our society knows it today does not exist in the Bible. Harrell challenged the teens to evaluate why they’re in relationships.

“What’s your end goal?” Harrell said he asked them.

The third week of the series Harrell had an intern talk about selecting the person God wants each individual to marry.

The final week Harrell talked about how to treat one another in relationships. He gave an example of test driving a car for several weeks then, unwilling to commit, taking it back to the dealership.

“A car dealer is not going to let you do that,” Harrell said.

He said there are consequences for that behavior, yet that’s how many teens and young adults treat those with whom they are in a relationship.

“Stop test driving,” Harrell said.

He told the students if they don’t see themselves ready to get married in a reasonable amount of time, what is the purpose of the romantic relationship they are in?

“It’s hard for a lot of students to hear that and understand that,” Harrell said.

One issue people face is the “pseudo marriage,” a situation in which people think they need to live as a married couple — physically and emotionally — before actual marriage. Harrell said that leads to many emotional divorces.

He said another big issue teens and young adults face in the dating world is determining who is the right person to commit to.

“How do I know if this is the right person for me?” Harrell said is a commonly asked question.

He said that question is based on a self-centered nature.

“Everybody is trying to find that perfect person … that doesn’t exist,” Harrell said.

Kearney Editor Kevin M. Smith can be reached at 628-6010 or kevinsmith@npgco.com.