Saint Valentine’s Day is celebrated on the fourteenth day of February every year in most parts of the world.
There are various accounts about the origin of Valentine’s Day but the one widely recognized and popularized is about a Roman Catholic martyr, named Valentine. History states that Valentine defied the emperor’s orders and secretly wedded couples to spare the husbands from war.
Another account said that Saint Valentine was imprisoned for ministering to Christians who persecuted under the Roman Emperor in the third century. It is for this reason that his feast day is associated with love.
The feast of Saint Valentine was established by Pope Galerius the first in AD 496, to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome who died in AD 269. It is not a public holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in some churches.
Over the years, the Valentine’s Day has become a significant cultural, religious and commercial celebration of romance in many regions of the world. It is observed by sending greeting cards, gifts and church services.
The celebration, which is assumed to be a Christian feast, is celebrated by Christians and non-Christians. However, nowadays, the day is observed in ways which it should not be celebrated.
Instead of engendering love among married couples, which was what Saint Valentine was imprisoned for, the day increases immorality among married and unmarried couples.
Many people travel long distances, tell all sorts of lies and cheat with their supposed ‘Val’ in order to commit fornication or adultery on Saint Valentine’s Day. Today, people steal, kill, kidnap and commit all sorts of crime to make money with which they celebrate Valentine’s Day.
Many companies, in a bid to market and popularize their products, add salt to injury. They embark on programs that promote promiscuity, indecency and immorality. Boys and girls mount pressure on their peers to steal or get involved in things which are unGodly. The situation becomes skirmish for those with chains of friends
In addition, in the course of celebrating Saint Valentine’s Day, many young girls end up with unwanted pregnancies, which later lead to many cases of abortion and, in some cases, death. Others are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, heart breaks, coronavirus and truncated destinies among others. If truly that Saint Valentine’s Day is a Christian feast, then it should be observed in ways that will glorify God by showing God’s kind of love to people.
God’s word in first Corinthians chapter thirteen explains God’s kind of love. According to the Bible, love is patient and kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it does not keep malice and it is not proud. Love is not carnal or promiscuous; love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, hopes and always perseveres. Love never fails. Cheating, stealing, fornication or even adultery is not love but lust, which must surely lead to eternal damnation.
Couples whose affection for each other has declined should use the period to ignite it. Relatives should also show love to one another, knowing that there are a lot to benefit from love-filled relationship than in a hate-filled relationship. Everyone should show love devoid of sin to people around them, including the less privileged ones.
Above all, showing of love and affection should be everyday thing, not restricted to a specific day.
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