Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is often seen as one of the most romantic days of the year, with flowers, chocolates and all of the items that represent love. However, Valentine’s Day did not start as a moneymaking fete of romance. Its origins lie in Roman fertility festivals such as Lupercalia and in the commemoration of Christian martyr St Valentine in the third century. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I formally established 14 February as a feast day. By the Middle Ages, it became associated with courtly romance, and by the nineteenth century, it advanced to what we recognise as an occasion where gifts and cards are exchanged.

Today, it is said that around 25 million Valentine’s cards are sent in the UK each year, which generates millions of pounds.  The entire day saw an increase in not just card sales but also romantic meals, gifts, and other condiments in the name of love, and reciprocated. For some, Valentine’s Day is a day of joy, whilst for others, it exposes loneliness or unmet expectations.

Scripture, however, defines love differently. “God demonstrates his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Love here is not reaction but initiative. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son” (1 John 4:10). No cards, flowers or chocolate, but instead the cross; the greatest act of love.

Paul’s description in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 strips love of sentimentality and states that, “Love is patient, love is kind… it does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking.” Jesus deepens it even more, saying, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Theologian Anders Nygren wrote, “Agape [love] is unmotivated, spontaneous, indifferent to value, and creative.” This love, divine love, does not arise because we deserve it; it is born through sacrifice. C. S. Lewis added, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. “Christ demonstrates this vulnerability on the cross.

In a culture that counts cards and measures affection by gifts, the gospel offers something more secure. It is covenantal, costly, and constant.

So, whether you are the recipient of a card, flowers, or chocolates, the deeper truth remains: Someone loves you, and that someone is Jesus!