VT Sabbath Focus
Does Valentine's Day Show God's Love?
Next Saturday (February 14th) is the popularly recognized holiday of Valentine’s Day. Making it the second largest holiday in spending behind Christmas. Multiple billions of dollars will be spent buying flowers, chocolates, jewelry, romantic getaways and going out to a special restaurant.
Valentine’s Day is a day that supposedly promotes love. But is the meaning of the day founded on what God wants us to focus on? Does Valentine’s Day actually show God’s love? Should we celebrate it? Let’s evaluate what Valentine's Day is really based on:
- When was Valentine’s Day established?
Do a web search to find the origins of this day
- What was the feast of Lupercalia? Who was the Roman god Pan?
- Is Valentine’s Day a day with true Christian values?
- Review these articles from our parent website (United Church of God) concerning the history of Valentine’s Day:
Teen Bible study guide: Valentine’s Day
St. Valentine, Cupid and Jesus Christ
Where did Valentine's Day come from?
Showing love to someone we care about is not wrong, but we must in a context that truly puts God first.
- Is Valentine’s Day part of God’s commanded Holy Days? Read Leviticus 23.
How we worship God is important. Most of the holidays that Christian churches observe have at their core a pagan worship that was remade into a “Christian” holiday and renamed ostensibly to worship God. The problem is, this does not recognize God as the only source of true worship.
What did God caution Israel not to do when He took them into the Promised Land? Deuteronomy 12:29-31
- True Christians must not adopt pagan festivals as holidays if they are striving to please God in everything they do.
If we merge pagan teachings with God’s instruction, we weaken the truth and show disrespect to God.
- What is truth? John 17:17
- What are we to keep? 1 John 5:3
- How are we to worship God? John 4:24
- Does worshipping God with pagan teachings honor God?
Showing love as God instructs is not wrong—true romantic love, as defined in the Bible, included. It’s a good thing to express your love toward others through a thoughtful card, flowers, dinner out or any number of other ways. Just don’t do it under the trappings of a pagan holiday like Valentine’s Day. If someone is special to you, then do those things throughout the year rather than waiting until February 14th.
It does matter to God how we worship Him. He expects us to understand the difference between what He has declared holy and the profane teachings masquerading as godly worship (Ezekiel 22:6).
For a more complete review of comparing traditional religious holidays to God’s Holy Days, we recommend that you read our free study aid Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe? You can download it or request that a copy be mailed to you (both free of charge) at www.ucg.org/booklets.
