From your Valentine...

Every February, during the days leading up to the 14th of the month, you can walk into almost any store and find an abundance chocolate hearts wrapped in foil, stuffed teddy bears in a wide variety of colors, cards that send out affectionate messages, and pink- and red-colored everything else.

In the United States, Valentine’s Day is the holiday when both lovers and friends express their feelings for others through romantic exchanges of cards, candy, presents, flowers, and other gifts. For some, it is a favorite holiday. And for others, it is dreaded and despised. Nonetheless, people spend pocketfulls of money each year at this time to show just how much they love those special someones in their lives.

So where did this holiday originate? Who first started the concept of setting aside one particular day out of the year to show those special people how you really feel?

History says that Valentine’s Day is possibly named after one of three early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine who were killed in ancient Rome.

One legend says that Valentine was a priest during the third century. During that time, Roman Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young soldiers—claiming single men made better warriors. Valentine defied the injustice Claudius imposed by performing marriages for young lovers in secret. When he was found out, he was put to death.

Other theories say that Valentine was put to death for helping Christian escape harsh Roman prisons where they were beaten and tortured.

And yet another legend says that, while in prison, Saint Valentine fell in love with a young girl who visited him often. Before his death, rumor has it that he sent the first “valentine” in the form of a letter to her signed “From your Valentine.”

The truth behind these stories still remains a mystery today. But the message of sacrificial, undying love clearly continues to live on and even began before time. I don’t even know how many times the Bible mentions love—but I do know that it’s at the very core of who God is. This holiday should be a large reminder of what the Bible says about love:

• Proverbs 10:12—Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.
• John 15:13—No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.
• John 3:16—For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
• 1 John 3:16—This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.
• And the infamous passage from 1 Corinthians 13 (1-7, 13): "If I speak the languages of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind. Love does not envy; is not boastful; is not conceited; does not act improperly; is not selfish; is not provoked; does not keep a record of wrongs; finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. … Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."
  

In a society that is becoming increasingly selfish and less about loving others, we should be the first to practice daily before others the true, sacrificial, biblical love of Jesus. Make a new commitment. Start fresh today.

Also posted on: http://josiahroad.com/article/from-your-valentine