FEBRUARY is the month of love.
Minds turn to romantic meals, cards emblazoned with hearts, and of course bunches of roses for the one we love.
St Valentine has become a massive industry tempting us with boxes of chocolates, bottles of bubbly and sweet cuddly toys to express our true love.
So what’s it really all about?
Who was St Valentine and what on earth did he do to start this celebration of true love?
One legend says that Valentine had been jailed because of his faith.
Whilst in jail his faith was put to the test by the jailer, who brought his blind daughter to him to heal; which he did.
But Valentine was executed for not recanting his faith and on the day of his execution, 14th February 269.
He left the jailer’s daughter a letter signed ‘your Valentine’.
But in this broken world, we know that romantic love often doesn’t last.
As humans we have a deep longing to be loved, not just presented with a box of chocolates and a card expressing someone’s undying love, but love that accepts us for who we are, that will be there in times of trouble, in times of need.
Love that never fails.
Jesus’ disciple John wrote about the greatest love of all: ‘This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ (1 John ch 4 vs 10).
Ian Stewart is a member of Christ Church Wokingham, which meets at St Crispin’s School every Sunday at 10:30am.
For information, visit: abch.org.uk
