Valentine’s Day-Who is the Greatest Romantic?
The evolution of Valentine’s Day has followed a course similar to the evolution of Santa Claus. It began with legends surrounding an obscure saint (actually, there’s more than one St. Valentine) from early Christian history that oddly morphed over the centuries into something else entirely. Then it exploded into a pop culture and commercial phenomenon in Victorian England (thank the Brits for greeting cards, flowers, and “confectionaries”), with the United States quickly jumping on the bandwagon.
Here are 4 facts about Valentine’s Day:
The first Valentine was posted around 1806.
Almost one billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year on or near February 14 with females purchasing 85% of the cards. This is second only to the number of Christmas cards sent.
Americans spent $20.7 billion dollars in 2019 on Valentine’s Day.
3 in 10 people don’t celebrate this holiday in America.
Valentine’s Day is enjoyed by some as the celebration of love while others reject it as a materialistic commercialized holiday.
Valentine’s Day started with a connection to Christianity but there is a lot of information to wade through to find the truth. The details within the stories connecting it to Christianity are difficult to prove.
Nevertheless, Valentine’s Day is somewhat connected to Christianity since it is focused on love. Exactly what is love?
As Christians, our understanding of love is deeply rooted in Biblical principles. 1 John 4:7-12 teaches us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us”.
In this scripture we are reminded that love originates from God. The verses affirm that those who love are born of God and know God, for God is love. This biblical perspective challenges us to view love as a romantic pursuit and a reflection of our connection with the divine. Christians should be the most unashamed, exuberant celebrators of romantic love there are, and the strongest guardians of God’s design and boundaries, because God made it for us to enjoy. God, the greatest romantic in existence, has designed love to give us a taste of the greatest romance that will ever exist, of which all Christians will experience.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14).
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it (Song of Solomon 8:6-7).
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Whatever Valentine’s Day is to you, it is for you to decide. Personally, I think it’s a great opportunity to celebrate God’s love. God is the greatest romantic who loves us and desires that we love Him and that we share His love with our family, friends and neighbors.
