In counseling members of the emerging church at Corinth nearly 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul advised them that telling the story of Christianity would require more than words and deeds. The spirit in which words and deeds were offered mattered most, he wrote. And his description of the appropriate spirit is familiar, timeless and transcendent.

“Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy,” Paul wrote. “Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

Today is Valentine’s Day, a “mushy” holiday which like many others has become so co-opted by merchandising that we forget to think about what a more modern writer, rocker Huey Lewis, sings about the “Power of Love.”

“You don’t need money, don’t take fame, don’t need no credit card to ride this train. It’s strong and it’s sudden and it’s cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life.”

This holiday centers on romantic love, and the descriptions written by Paul and, much later, by Huey Lewis apply to that variety. But the broader varieties are family and fraternal love, which have been the most potent forces for good in human history, and fit the same definitions.

Love is more than cards or candy or washing the dishes. Love is the spirit that prompts such words and deeds.

Love is not easy but is always worth the effort. Happy Valentine’s Day.