When researching the origins of Valentine’s Day, I was surprised by three things: (1) How little I knew about the holiday other than what things we already traditionally do; (2) how much information is out there on it; and (3) that there are Christians who think we should not celebrate it. I will deal with these items in reverse order. First, it is not wrong to celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving loved ones candy, cards, or flowers. Those are things folks who love each other would do from time to time anyway, so why get in an uproar when doing it on a specific day? Also, since there is a vast amount of information on this day and since the Lord is leading me in a different direction for this blog, I am doing a very condensed history on it. Third, here is that condensed history. It is taken from Got Questions.org. Although I answered the question about whether we should celebrate this day, I will still include their answer:
“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. The history is somewhat murky as to how Valentine’s Day has come to be what we now know and celebrate. Saint Valentine served in third-century Rome. Emperor Claudius decided that single men make better soldiers. Therefore, Claudius banned soldiers from being married. One version of the story is that Valentine continued to perform the weddings of young soldiers who were in love, and Claudius had Valentine imprisoned. While imprisoned, Valentine reportedly fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. Valentine sent her a card and signed it, ‘Love, your Valentine.’ Another version is that Valentine defied Claudius by helping Christians escape the torture of the Romans.
“Valentine died in approximately A.D. 270. Others claim the church may have decided to celebrate in mid-February to ‘Christianize’ the pagan Roman celebration Lupercalia. The first Valentine sent in the United States was in the 1840’s by Esther Howgald. Most of us enjoy ‘spoiling’ a loved one on Valentine’s Day. Sending gifts and cards conveys love, affection, and friendship.
“There is no biblical reason why Christians should not celebrate Valentine’s Day by giving their loved ones flowers, candy, and/or cards. As with celebrating any holiday, the decision should be between the individual and God. Some people feel very strongly that observing any secular holiday is wrong, while others see it as harmless. The important thing to remember is that celebrating or not celebrating holidays should not be a cause for pride or division among Christians.” [1]
We can see that from the time of its apparent origin onward, Valentine’s Day has been a day to show and celebrate love. Usually, many of us relate this holiday to love between the members of dating or married couples. So, what is love? Love is a word that has gained a lot of different meanings over the course of time. Experts in different fields of study have identified anywhere from three to twelve different types of love. I will keep the discussion simpler. There are five primary types which the majority of people know of. There is eros, or erotic love, which involves varying displays of affection from the holding of hands and kissing to full sexual activity. There is also familial love, which concerns love between family members. We find brotherly love as well, which at its most basic is a nonsexual but deep bond between close friends. Ultimately there is unconditional love. More on that shortly.
Biblically speaking we see very little about eros love, and the Greek word eros is not found in the Biblical texts, but certain aspects of it do occur in the Word. The Word of God treats this type of love with the highest degree of discreetness, for such displays of affection belong only between one man and one woman in the marital bed (Genesis 2:23-24; Hebrews 13:4). The family is of great importance to God, and throughout the Bible we see examples of family affection as well as admonitions on how family members are to interact (Ephesians 5:22–6:4). A good Biblical example of brotherly love can be found in the relationship that existed between David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1-4; 2 Samuel 1:25-26). Many people are the most familiar with romantic love, that wonderful and abiding feeling of deep affection which is experienced by dating and married couples alike, and yes, there are some examples of it in the Bible, such as how Jacob (Israel) felt about Rachel from the time he first saw her (Genesis 29:16-18). Unconditional love is signified by the Greek word agape (ag-AH-pay). This is love expressed regardless of the worthiness of its object. It not only involves feelings but also actively beneficial actions toward others. This is the type of love God has for people, and it is the same type of love we as Christians should have for one another (Colossians 3:12-14). Starting from the standpoint of romantic love, I wish to build on this theme of unconditional love so you can see that not just on Valentine’s Day but on every day of the year we truly have something to celebrate about love.
It is an amazing feeling, that of being in love. Speaking from a man’s standpoint, when I am in love, the woman I am in love with stays on my mind almost constantly. I can hardly wait to see her again, and when it is time to go I wish we did not have to part. When I am away from her I sometimes listen to beautiful love songs and other lovely music, both sung and instrumental, and I daydream about her and I being together in various places and doing various things, enjoying each other’s company and wanting to always be together. Valentine’s Day becomes a greatly anticipated holiday for me, one where I can shower the one I love with all manner of appreciation beyond what I already do. One of my intense desires when I am with such a woman is to make her happy, for her to know she is appreciated, cared for, and loved for who she israther than what she has or how she looks. Based on the way that couples in love act around each other, such behavior is not unusual. We see this in the Song of Solomon in the Bible:
Song of Solomon 2:4-6 (the Shulamite woman): He has brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with cakes of raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am lovesick. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
Song of Solomon 4:9-10 (King Solomon): You have ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; you have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace. How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, and the scent of your perfumes than all spices!
What of marriage and what follows? The joy of having children together is counterbalanced by the expense and other challenges of raising them. Life’s various cares and challenges can take a lot of the steam out of the emotional side of love. That is when we see love in action as opposed to love in feeling. It takes work and dedication from both the husband and the wife to make a marriage work, to make it last. Things almost never go exactly according to plan. Sometimes an unexpected crisis may arise—an extended layoff at work, the unforeseen striking of a debilitating illness, the untimely death of a child, and so on. These added stresses thoroughly test the mettle of a marriage. Not everyone stays in it. Some bail out, ending the marriage. Others stick it out, meaning to keep their marriage vows to the letter, not willing to abandon the one they love so dearly.
Over time it seems that as far as the emotional aspect of love is concerned, couples whose marriages last fall in love all over again from time to time. Eventually all the children grow up, setting out to build their own lives. Retirement comes. Old age arrives. With old age come various infirmities as these mortal bodies begin to break down. But those who truly love one another, those who have built a life together, will stay together until the end. One of the most moving songs I have ever heard, one which truly captures the idea of love and devotion in marriage, is called “Walking Her Home,” by contemporary Christian singer Mark Schultz. Despite the challenges brought on by diminishing physical capabilities and failing health, the husband and wife who truly love one another would rather struggle together than to be parted. The time comes, though, when one or the other has to leave this world. The void left by the passing of basically one half of oneself cannot be filled except by God Himself. Still, no one can take from these dear people the life they had together. If imperfect human love can be that true and enduring, then how much better is the love of God for us?
God loved each and every person from eternity past. With tender loving care He wrote in His book the blueprints of every person who will ever be (Psalm 139:16).From the time of mankind’s fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, God has sought to restore the relationship between people and Himself. God has loved His people Israel always. The ultimate expression of God’s love for fallen humanity came when He sent Jesus Christ to save the world from their sins. Jesus, fully God and fully man, gave His life and shed His blood for the human race, even though He knew that many would reject His free gift of salvation and go to hell. As it has been said, Jesus paid a price He didn’t owe for a debt we could never pay.
The Lord came from unimaginable glory and splendor in heaven to be born into a humble family in Israel, placed in a manger—a trough or stall for animals. While here, during His ministry, although many followed Him, many others hated Him, and Christ was ultimately betrayed by one of His disciples. Those of His own creation falsely accused Him, spat on Him, beat Him, and finally, crucified Him, crucifixion being one of the most painful and humiliating forms of torture and execution ever devised. In spite of all this, Jesus Christ prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34). To this day He is busy saving any soul willing to be saved. There are no words to describe love of this magnitude. Hallelujah! So this Valentine’s Day, as well as every other day of the year, while you are busy showing affection to those you love so well, remember first of all to love the Lord your God. He is the reason and the source for living, for hope, and for the purest and best of all love to be found anywhere.
Isaiah 46:3-4: “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
Jeremiah 31:3: The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
John 13:1, 15:13, 17:20-26: Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end… “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”… “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one; I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Romans 8:38-39: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[1] https://www.gotquestions.org, “What is the origin of Valentine’s Day, and should Christians celebrate it?” Retrieved 02/03/2022.
