Saint Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 each year in many countries around the world. It began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). In Europe, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to lovers "as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver's heart. Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

So, if it started as a Christian liturgical celebration, what does the Bible reveal about love? Well, a lot! The word Love in the New International Version is mentioned 319 times in the Old Testament and 232 times in the new testament. 

The Apostle Paul reminds the believers at the early church in Rome, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8 New International Version of the Bible.

Here are some of the times love is mentioned from the 13th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth from The Message version of the Bible; 

“If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. 
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always ‘me first,’
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.”

Perhaps this helps us understand the source (God) and importance of love (how we are to live).