Valentine's Day originated as a Christian feast day and it was held to honor a martyr named Valentine. Another story of the name Valentine tells of a man named Valentine who ministered to Christians who were being persecuted under the Roman Empire in the third century. All of these accounts are "legends" and may or may not be about actual men, but one account we do know as truth is the awesome love of a Savior who died a criminal's death when He was not a criminal. The love of Jesus is unsurpassed by any other expression of love. Saint Valentine reached out to those Christians martyred for their faith by the Roman Empire and he ministered to them sometimes by performing weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry as decreed by the Roman Empire. If you wanted to have a "sweetheart" in those days you really had to pay a price and the love they expressed for each other was surely sacrificial.
Those early Christians were persecuted for righteousness' sake and their deep love for Christ surely bound those couples to each other and to the cause of Jesus, even to the point of death. That is a great expression of love for Christ, for each other, and for a lost and dying world. I believe couples need to wake up to the fact that we are "stronger together" and as scripture says "The two become one." Paul wrote this to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 5:31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Two people who live as one are super strong and super resilient in life and satan knows this which is further illustrated by his hatred for marriages. The divorce rate for Christian couples is just as high as for those who are not believers. This indicates that the enemy is going about roaring like a lion in Christian marriages and the effect it has on families is dire.
But what if the two becoming one realized the super strong commitment to serve Christ alongside each other is something God can use for the furtherance of the gospel and His church? What could be the result of such a strong union? That union would be a model of strength in all relationships as their witness echoes the Word of God with man and woman each embracing their place in that marriage. To stray from the scriptural description of each person in the marriage waters down the strength of that union. Paul wrote this in Ephesians 5: 21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
If you want to shake up a meeting of nominal Bible followers just share the above verses and you will get all kinds of opinions from men and women. In other words, you will get confused. Satan is the "author" of confusion. Nuff said!! We need to read, trust, and follow God's Word and not only try to reason away the Word, but follow it and "give God a chance!" God knows perfectly what is best and when we put our own flawed reasoning in the mix we water down the effectiveness of the truth. The way we have been doing marriage over the past few decades has only hurt Christian relationships and that which God intended to be strong is now weaker than ever. We need more Adam's to step up and lead instead of follow their wives. We need more Eve's to listen to their Godly husbands and quit listening to our enemy spew his lies. Oh sure, it will take some trust and humility, but don't we need more of that anyway?
The early Christians would marry even when it might mean their death, but their love was strong because they were stronger together because the two were one in everything. We must foster the kind of relationships that make the two stronger when they are one. This is the way of God and this is the way we must travel. The gospel depends on it. To quote a very familiar song "Love, exciting and new. Come aboard, we're expecting you. Love, life's sweetest reward. Let it flow, it floats back to you." When you find your "Valentine" remember the original Valentine was probably very selfless and he probably lived his life according to the most selfless one, Jesus. We should do the same and "true" love will flourish and not falter. Happy Valentine's Day!!
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren