Did you know that each Valentine’s Day men spend an average of $130 on candy, cards, jewelry, flowers and dates? Or that Valentine’s Day results in a billion cards in the US, 50 million roses across the world, and 8 billion of those chalky candy hearts that no one really likes? With all the candy hearts we buy, the entire country of Zimbabwe could meet their daily caloric needs for two and a half weeks. But what a miserable two and half weeks it would be.
Valentine’s Day is a celebration of romantic love. In the perfect stereotype, the man shows up on a doorstep, well dressed, wearing cologne, with a dozen roses and chocolate, just before he whisks her off to a tender candlelight dinner at an expensive restaurant.
And then there’s reality. The guy forgets, the restaurant is packed, eating the chocolate breaks the New Year’s diet you just started, and the flowers will die. If you’re the guy, you might be stressed out about how to make this year more romantic than last year (or passably good enough not to get in trouble).
We don’t meditate on Jesus’s birth only at Christmas or the resurrection only on Easter. We shouldn’t restrict thoughts about our relationships to Valentine’s Day either, should we?
So, I have a modest proposal. Rather than spending your obligatory $130 and calling it a day, use this holiday to set some time aside for self-evaluation . Buy flowers, write a thoughtful love note, have a great date. But don’t stop there. How has your love life been this year? Not “what’s your ratio of candlelight dinners to fast food meals,” but rather how are you doing at the Christian calling to truly love? How is your self-sacrifice?
This kind of love is deeper than “how’s your marriage?” That’s too easy to answer with “my spouse isn’t doing (you-fill-in-the-blank).” But on the question of whether you are demonstrating Christian love or not, well, that requires some self-reflection.
This kind of love is also broader, covering all of life. Plenty of people are sad on Valentine’s Day because they don’t have a romantic significant other. But the calling to Christian love applies to every redeemed person. It’s time to lift our eyes beyond our own personal concerns and think about serving other people, especially our spouses.
And finally, this kind of love lasts longer. Anyone can put on a romantic show for a 24-hour period on February 14th. But looking back over your demonstrations of self-sacrifice for the last year is a lot more challenging—and revealing.
Here are 12 biblical litmus tests you can give yourself today. Warning: this might be convicting.
