The Legend OR The True Valentine?

With sickness in the house, hospital visits for family these last few weeks, taxes, and doing re-writes on my most current book, Lost Song, this blog has been put on the wayside.


So, I am bringing out an oldie from a few years ago to share with you once again.

I hope you enjoy it and know that you truly are someone's special Valentine... 

I was reading the history of Valentine’s Day, and from what I found, romance is not its true root beginning. So they say.
From the information I gathered, it was a day to honor a Christian martyr that was named Valentine. Now a martyr is someone who faces death rather than renouncing his religious beliefs. I’d say there had to be a lot of love and conviction to face death for anything. Still, it’s not romantic love.
I also found various versions of one legend that I particularly like. I’ll give you the paraphrased version.
There was this mean, horrible emperor who wanted men to be in his military, but he couldn’t get people to sign up. He figured it was because they didn’t want to leave their loved ones. So the guy banned marriage. (Whatever!) Still a priest named Valentine married people in secret. When he was caught, he was sentenced to death, and while in prison fell in love with a girl that visited him often, who may have been the jailors daughter.
Before his death, he wrote her a letter and signed it, “From Your Valentine”.
So I don’t know if it’s true or not, but that’s a pretty romantic story and would even be a great movie.
Whatever the start, Valentines Day is when people make card industries, “RICH” by buying over priced Valentine cards with sweet sentiments. And one of the best parts, CHOCOLATE is everywhere. I think that is an incredible part of this day.
And it’s a day to give fun presents that make people feel good. And some people get engaged and may be getting engaged today! 
But in reality, whatever the reason, it’s a day where in the hustle and bustle, we actually spend the entire day showing people through our gifts and actions exactly what God commands us to do in His Word.
When Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest, He answered, to love God with all of our heart, mind and soul and to love other’s as we love ourselves.
The Word also says to love one another, forgive one another.
The fruit’s of the Spirit are love, kindness, goodness, patience, joy, peace, PATIENCE, (that’s a toughie in this day and age) faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galations 5:22)
And the hardest one of all…to LOVE our enemies!
The Bible is the best Valentine book ever. It is filled with a love story that is unexplainable.
The wonderful thing about it is…today there are romantic, movies, books, and stories, where we hear about people finding love; a person is either a participant, or an observer. But when a person hears about the love story in the Bible, they can move from observer to participant, and say I want that love in my life, too. I want to wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night and have this love that never changes or goes away, no matter if I’m having a good or bad day. And Jesus says okay. I’m here for you for ETERNITY.
While doing a study on the book of James the half-brother of Jesus, it appears that James and his brothers didn’t believe in who Jesus was before his death. But after Jesus resurrection the Word shows James and his brothers in the upper room with the disciples the day of Pentecost. James is the leader of the church in Jerusalem. James writes a letter to the believers that becomes an incredible book of the Bible.
How did that happen? The Bible tells us that Jesus appeared to James after his resurrection. It doesn’t let us know what the conversation between the two of them was, but it clearly was a good one because it changed James life. And through James testimony of Jesus love, many other lives are changed, including mine.
To me, what happened in James life is a wonderful example of how Jesus wants us to be in our own relationships, to go the extra mile for the people in our lives.
I mean, He loved us so much, He let them pierce his hands and feet with nails so HE could die and pay the price for the wrong things we do.
If there ever was an example of love, He gives it.
Galations 5:13-14 “….Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love, for the whole law can be summed up in this one command; “love your neighbor as yourself.”
My prayer for you today, is that you will walk filled with the love that can only come from Him. And that someone else will be blessed too, because of it.
Happy belated Valentine’s Day.
Bible verses from the NLT


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Let Love Shine

Not Worry? How hard is that?

WHAT IF?