What’s so big about Valentine’s Day?

Americans “love” this holiday so much that they’ll spend $20.7 billion this year to celebrate it. In fact, out of the 51% of Americans who celebrate Valentines, the average will spend $161.96.

224 million roses are produced, roughly 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged, and 58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased for Valentine’s Day alone.

One might think that the billions spent on chocolate, flowers, cards, and carefully-crafted experiences mean true love in American hearts. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

According to one report, 53% of woman said they’d “end their relationship” if they didn’t get something on Valentine’s.

Today, only 1 in 3 Americans claim to be happy. Additionally, almost half of married couples in the US divorce.

47,000 Americans committed suicide in 2017, compared to 817,000 suicides globally for that year. For the first time ever, suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young people under 35.

Clearly, Americans are futilely seeking to mask the pain. It seems that many Americans view love as simply a fleeting thrill and an uncontrollable and overwhelming emotion, defined by self and experience. Could there be more to love than this?

Today, we’ll learn five truths about love that paint a stark contrast to the kind of love the world offers. But first, who was Saint Valentine anyways?

Who Was Saint Valentine?

Several stories exist of a Valentine who was martyred.

According to one account, Valentine lived near Rome, in the third century A.D.

When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Valentine is believed to have been executed on February 14, 270, A.D.

Five Lessons From Valentine

Valentine exemplified five truths about love often missed by today’s generation.

1.True love is committal. Modern Americans are unwilling to enter the commitment of marriage as early as their forefathers were. Today, the median marriage age has risen to 29.8 for men, and 27.8 for women. Sadly, many turn to cohabitation, divorce, and lustful sins, finding temporary, but not lasting, fulfillment. In marrying the Roman soldiers, Valentine celebrated love within the boundaries of marriage.

2. True love is sacrificial. John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Just as Valentine gave his life to marry soldiers to their brides, so Christ laid down His life for His bride, the Church.

3. True love is a choice, not a feeling. “Just follow your heart” sounds good, but is it biblical? Deuteronomy 6:5 exhorts, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Commenting on this verse, Voddie Baucham observes, “Love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on the behalf of its object.”

In Gethsemane’s agony, Christ cried out, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” In one moment, Christ, being all-knowing, understood every torment that lay between Him and redemption. Yet He submitted Himself to the Father, sacrificing all by courageous love.

4. True love is others, not self-focused. Love “seeketh not her own” (I Corinthians 13:5), but the betterment of others. True love is not interested in others just for personal gain, but because they’re made in Christ’s image.

5. True love is enduring. Because true love is rooted in Christ, it deepens through the years. True love is not defined fleeting emotions, but by an unchanging God. Romans 8:35 asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The deep, deep, love of Jesus endures no matter our mistakes.

Does Your Love Reflect Christ’s Love?

Loving like Christ loved is hard. But it’s possible when we allow His love to flow through us.

In the end, reflecting Christ’s love occurs when we forget ourselves, and turn our eyes upon Jesus. When our focus is Christ, our actions speak Christ.

In this Valentine’s season, may we all return to the foot of the cross, and there find true love that can revive our souls, restore our marriages, reconcile our families, touch our churches, heal our communities, and transform the world around us.

It starts in your heart. Today.

QUESTION: How does God define love? How should our love look different than the love offered by the world?