Celebrate Valentine's Day better than the world.

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 Tis the season for all things pink or red, all things hearts and chocolate, and all things “Valentine’s Day makes me sick”. It’s the time when love is supposedly in the air and one or both of you are expected to do something original or spend more money than you have to put your love on display. Valentine’s Day is upon us, and I have something to tell you:

Christian, you need to be celebrating Valentine’s Day better than the world- and here are six reasons why.

Love is ultimately from God. It is not merely chemicals firing off in our brains, producing feelings that we impulsively act upon. Love is a primary attribute of the God who has made you in his image and who loves you more than you can fathom.
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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. 1 John 4:7-8

Because love is from our Creator who made us in his image, love is essential to being fully human. Without love, you and I literally are not capable of operating to our full potential nor are we able to express God’s character accurately in any legitimate sense.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5

As a Christian, loving others becomes a natural extension of being returned to our created intent (through salvation). In love, we give of ourselves as God has given of himself for our sake. In love, we go the extra mile, give the extra amount even when it is not deserved, and act compassionately toward all people because of the immense, immeasurable love God has already lavished upon us.

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth. 1 John 3:18

If you are married, love needs to motivate all you do towards and with your spouse. This does not mean things are always happy or that arguments don’t take place. But the best marriages endure in unhappy times and argue with this truth preserved: even in our worst moments, love is not being compromised.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and give himself up for her... Ephesians 5:22

If you’re a Christian in a dating relationship, love the other person by loving God more than them. Make sure they know the real Love in your life is from God and for God first and foremost. And demonstrate it by not being attached to them in a way that opposes this declaration.

If you are single, remember that love is firstly from God and belongs to you in an equal measure compared to those who are married. Valentine’s Day often connotes a feeling of “I’m not a whole person without someone who romantically loves me”. Resist that with all your might by rejoicing in the ever-available, never-changing love of God.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:1

If you are divorced, remember that you have Someone who loves you despite both your sin and your ex-spouse’s sin against you. All is not lost. Yes it is difficult and even feels devastating in certain seasons, but preach to your heart the reality that your ultimate marriage is to Christ and this beautiful bond will never be broken.

If you are a widow with perhaps decades of Valentine’s Days spent with one person who is no longer on earth, certain holidays (and anniversaries, birthdays, etc.) can be particularly tough. Do your best to stay in these 2 frames of mind: have a thankful heart to God for all the time you had, and let God comfort you in his goodness and faithfulness.

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Finally, no matter what stage of life you find yourself in, realize that if you are a Christian: the kind of love you are capable of is an other-worldly, counter-cultural, super-natural kind of love. If you are a child of God, you are able to love as God loves! God will work on your heart for the rest of your life to be transformed to love as he loves.