Two weeks ago, you were able to read what should drive us
and whether we had a faith problem or love problem. This week, I focus on my
ending sentence: “how to do justice to what we were created for and fulfill our
true purpose on this earth. Restore mankind back to what it was created for!”
We established we should be driven by the God kind of love. We should celebrate
what He celebrates. We just passed Valentine’s day last week. A so called day
to celebrate “love”, “couples”, “romance” and all that surrounds it. But: the
God kind of celebration gets buried in chocolates, romance, notes, dates, and
young and old getting their eyes on the advertising of “Valentine” instead of
what we should really celebrate. You might have to ask yourselves if it was
worth it and if you were created for that kind of sentiments. If you were
disappointed that day, I hope you got over it and got your focus back on track
of what is truly worth celebrating.
The majority of people don’t even stop to ask what they were
celebrating that day? Who is “Valentine”?
Valentine's Day Traditions
In the late 14th century, English poet Geoffrey Chaucer's
poem "Parliament of Fowls" declared Valentine's Day as the time when
birds choose their mates.
By the middle of the 18th century, friends and lovers
exchanged small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Printed cards became
popular in the 19th century.
Today, Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries as a
holiday of love, romance, dating, love notes, chocolates and more.
The Dark Side of Valentines Day
The origins of this festival of candy and cupids are
actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.
Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the
holiday, one place to start is ancient Rome.
Here’s a research article done by Arnie Seipel published in
the NPR magazine in 2022
The Romans' celebrations were violent.
The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of
different years in the third century.
From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of
Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the
hides of the animals they had just slain.
The Roman romantics "were drunk. They were naked,"
Noel Lenski, now a religious studies professor at Yale University, told NPR in
2011. Young women would line up for the men to hit them, Lenski said. They
believed this would make them fertile.
The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery in which
young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, coupled
up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.
The ancient Romans may also be responsible for the name of
our modern day of love. Emperor Claudius II executed two men — both named
Valentine — on Feb. 14 of different years in the third century. Their martyrdom
was honoured by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine's
Day.
As the Holiday Spread, It Evolved
William Shakespeare helped romanticize Valentine's Day in
his work, and it gained popularity throughout Britain and the rest of Europe.
Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things in the fifth century
by combining St. Valentine's Day with Lupercalia to expel the pagan rituals.
But the festival was more of a theatrical interpretation of what it had once
been. Lenski added, "It was a little more of a drunken revel, but the
Christians put clothes back on it. That didn't stop it from being a day of
fertility and love."
Around the same time, the Normans celebrated Galatin's Day.
Galatin meant "lover of women." That was likely confused with St.
Valentine's Day at some point, in part because they sound alike.
As the years went on, the holiday grew “sweeter”. Chaucer
and Shakespeare romanticised it in their work, and it gained popularity
throughout Britain and the rest of Europe. Handmade paper cards became the
tokens du jour in the Middle Ages.
Eventually, the tradition made its way to the New World. The
Industrial Revolution ushered in factory-made cards in the 19th century. And in
1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City, Mo., began mass-producing valentines.
February has not been the same since.
Consumers most likely spent a record $27.5 billion this 2025
Valentine holiday (worldwide), an average of $188.81 per person or INR 16,367.
That is about 2 billion more than last year -- 2024.
Not to spoil your Valentine’s Day but it is gone, and
meanwhile you might not have celebrated what or with who you wanted it with.
What does our Heavenly Father celebrates? Look what the
Bible says in 2 Peter 1 and 1 Corinthians 13 and Psalm 139:16. Then ask
yourselves who and what were you really celebrating that day.
King David writes:
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my
life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single
day had passed.
The Apostle Peter writes:
(2 Peter 1:10-11) So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard
to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these
things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance
into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul writes:
Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and
consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to
someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own
importance.
Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly
seek its own honour. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense.
Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in
what is wrong.
Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops
believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never
gives up.
Conclusion of just these few verses: Our Heavenly Father
celebrates
1)You
completing the book He wrote about you before He created you
2)You
showing the God kind of love as Paul describes inCorinthians 13
3)Working
hard, faithfully and taking it serious that He chose you (He chooses everyone
but the majority will never take that call serious or respond to Him choosing
them).
Dare to celebrate the victories along the way of that grand
entrance you can have if you just say YES to Him.
Remember He does celebrate. Let Him get the glory over you,
His precious creation and live out what you were created for! And celebrate
your loved ones the way He celebrates them.
