Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrating love and romance, but at the same time, it is just another day. While this holiday may tempt singles to dwell on what they do not yet have, it could be a holiday to celebrate the most romantic love, which every Christian man and woman does have!
Valentine's Day is a day just like yesterday and the day before - it's a day full of choices, and you get to choose where to direct your heart's focus. Every day, I see individuals who are physically more able than me, financially more stable, and way more successful. This could provoke jealousy, sadness, loneliness, etc. Many days, it does provoke these emotions. However, some days it provokes the realization that I am in a different season of life where I am being taught what my sovereign God is wanting to teach me.
Though this truth does not wash away the loneliness and discontentment that some may feel on Valentine's Day, the truth about how much you are wanted and loved should. In the United States alone, $19.7 billion dollars is spent on Valentine's Day. The ridiculous amount of money spent on this one holiday is as minimal as the value of a toothpick in comparison to the value Christ has placed on you. Valentine's Day does not have to be a day that singles grab Kleenex, wine, and chocolates and spend the day on the couch watching rom-coms (though this is pretty fun). I may be biased, but I think it would be more suitable to celebrate Valentine's Day by focusing on the love we are so undeserving of receiving, Love Himself, who showers us with glorious blessings and enraptures us with the most fulfilling companionship.
There are millions of married, engaged, and dating couples who have not (and possibly never will) experienced true love. As a single Christian, you have experienced a love that over 50% of America has never encountered. This percentage would be significantly higher if I were to look at the percentages of the lost in other countries.
This article is not to invalidate any feelings or emotions of singles because as humans, we naturally desire companionship and romance. Feelings of loneliness and sadness are natural. However, when we are not cautious, these feelings can lead to discontentment and dissatisfaction, which are completely avoidable emotions in those who have a relationship with the Creator, who promises to completely satisfy and fill the emptiness in our hearts.
When the chocolates run out, the wine is empty, and the movie is over, the discontented feeling will have to be faced, and you will be left to go to the one source who can fill you for much longer than the duration of a few films. I want to share a few Scriptures that help lead me to Jesus during times I'm tempted to look elsewhere: Jeremiah 2:13, Hebrews 4:15-16, Jeremiah 31:3, Philippians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, and 2 Corinthians 4:17.
So, whether you are single, dating, married, or engaged, February 14th is a day just like any other - one worthy of praising God for His gracious gift of sacrificial love, which dwells in and through us. The Lord receives the most glory when we are satisfied in Him. Let your loneliness be a reminder to seek satisfaction in Jesus, to use the sadness to dwell on His sacrificial, deep, and flowing love for us, and to use today to pursue and glorify the One who loves you more than any other human possibly could.
Happy Valentine's Day, my brothers and sisters.
