Today is Valentine’s Day, when people celebrate their love and affection for another person by sending cards, flowers, chocolates or snuggling up to watch one of the many Rom-Coms flooding our Netflix feeds. For some, the day might pass by pretty much unnoticed. But, for many, it can be a lonely and difficult day - particularly for those who are single and long to be with someone, or for those whose relationship is not what they hoped it would be, or for those who have lost a loved one. As a church family, we want to acknowledge how difficult today can be and to encourage each other in the gospel particularly on a day like today.
And so, in a culture that often idolises the romantic relationship, let’s fix our eyes afresh on Jesus Christ - the only one who loves us perfectly - the only one who can satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts - and the only one whose affection for us is not fickle or finite but unchanging, eternal and completely undeserved - as he ‘gave himself up for us’ on the cross - willingly sacrificing his life for ours.
And in a wider church culture that often idolises the marriage relationship, let’s remember that Jesus Christ was single throughout his life and lived the most fulfilling and fruitful life of all. Jesus can sympathize with whatever our feelings are on Valentine’s Day and He calls us to draw closer to Him - into a deeper experience of His love, which never fails. All our longings on Valentine’s Day are met in Him.
Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank and praise you for your love demonstrated to us in your Son, Jesus Christ, giving himself up for the church. Please forgive us when we idolise the romantic relationship or when we idolise marriage, rather than recognising the dignity of singleness and the ultimate perfect marriage between Christ and the church. On Valentine’s Day, please would you draw us, by your Spirit, into a deeper fellowship with you and a richer experience of your unchanging, eternal, undeserved love for us. Amen.
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