Valentine’s Day is best known as a time when people show their love and affection to others, usually through the sending of cards and gifts, typically candy and flowers. The US Greeting Card Association estimates over 1 billion cards are sent on this occasion. The event is typically associated with romance, although there are cards for all kinds of relationships, including relatives, friendships and even one’s boss!
Interestingly enough, the term Valentine is more than the name of a greeting card, or a term of endearment for another. It originated with an individual by the same name purported to have been martyred for his Christian faith in the late 200’s A.D. Stories regarding his life surfaced well after his death, sometime around A.D. 1493, so there is no degree of certainty or credibility that can be attached to them. However, one thing that seems to be associated with this person was the idea of sacrificial love, seen in his dying for his faith. The transition from this to romance happened during the time of Chaucer (A.D. 1343-1400).
While I’m not saying the expression of love is wrong, in harmony with the will of God, it is interesting to me how the world always wants to put its own spin on things. Such is the nature of the world. I doubt few today realize that there was a person named Valentine, and that the love he represented was supposed to be sacrificial and spiritual. Our concept today has been dictated by the philosophy of the world, and in many cases, as testified by the greeting cards available in stores, or specials on television, turned into something lustful and sinful. It is interesting how the first works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21 is love, or better lust, perverted by sin, in sexual immorality and promiscuity. Contrast this to the pure expression of love as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
As we assemble to worship God, we are reminded of the greatest love of all, God’s love for us revealed through His Son, and His sacrifice on our behalf. There is no greater love than the love of God, agape love, seen in Christ. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). This is not one person using another, as the world often expresses it, but the greatest of all commitments, that the greatest of all needs could be met. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him” (1 John 3:1).
To reflect this love, we are called on to commit ourselves to God and His Son, to sacrifice for Him and for each other. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). John reminds us, “We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). While we certainly want God to have such a committed love for us, I wonder if we are willing to do so for Him? Just as genuine love on Valentine’s Day goes beyond cards, candy and such, our love for God must go beyond words. It is seen in our desire to worship Him at every opportunity, because we desire to be in His presence, to give back from the prosperity with which He has blessed us, to sing His praise, to communicate with Him in prayer, to remember reverently His Son’s death in the Lord’s Supper, to hear Him speak to us from His Word. Beyond worship, we’ll live faithfully to His will in everyday living, at home, work, recreation and everywhere.
This is the fruit real love will bring out in our relationship with Him.
James said faith is revealed, not just in word, but in deed (James 2:14-26). So real love, sacrificial love, the love of God in our hearts, will be evident in our lives. Have you settled for a worldly imitation of love, or do you have the real expression of it in your life? “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments” (1 John 5:2).
