Not that I forgot, but my wife, Stephanie, has reminded me that Valentine’s Day is near. It’s the time for flowers, chocolates, and romantic greeting cards. It’s the time to remember love and think of those special to us.

However, Saint Valentine, the namesake for our modern holiday, was not feeling a lot of warm sentiments of love on the fourteenth day of February in about the year 269/270 A.D. There seem to be three traditions surrounding Saint Valentine, but all three end the same. One tradition claims he was a priest in Rome who assisted those imprisoned during the persecution undertaken by Emperor Claudius II. Valentine was arrested and put on trial, and when he would not forsake his faith, Valentine was sentenced to death. Another tradition says Saint Valentine defied the same Emperor Claudius, who prohibited young men from getting married in order that they might better serve the Roman Empire as soldiers. Supposedly Valentine continued to perform marriages, an act that led to his eventual imprisonment and death. A third tradition reports that Saint Valentine actually sent the very first valentine to a jailer’s daughter whom he befriended during his time in a Roman jail. He is said to have signed the note, “From your Valentine.” All three of these traditions end in Saint Valentine’s martyrdom on February 14th when he was beaten with clubs and then beheaded.

The thread that connects each of these three stories (regardless of whether the details of them carry more fiction than fact) is the theme of love. Truly it is good to focus our attention on love—the ways in which we show our love to those special to us, the Christian love we have for fellow members of the family of Christ, and most importantly, the love God shows to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the source of love we share and the model of love we follow. Saint John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, 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 life 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.” (1 John 4:7-11 ESV)

In this month that celebrates love, remember first and foremost God’s love. Additionally, think of ways you can reflect God’s love to those near-and-dear to your heart. How do you show your love to your spouse, your children, your family, your Christian friends? Look at the people you know, and share God’s love with someone who does not know Jesus as their Savior. And in everything you do, celebrate the fact that God loves you—now and forever!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Pastor Nyck