So it’s the day after Valentines Day.
You’re probably feeling some sort of relief. You might be in a relationship and you’re just glad that the pressure is over to plan the right date, buy the right flowers and write the perfect card. Or you might be single and you’re relieved that you no longer have to scroll through all the romantic ooshey-gooshey posts on social media and no one in your life is making snide comments about you having a valentine or not. You don’t have to feel uncomfortable anymore….or lonely.
I don’t know how you’re feeling on this February 15th, but I do know one thing:
Valentines Day is just a day, like any other one.
For those of you who didn’t have a date yesterday or your expectations weren’t met, that’s a comfort. But for those of you who did have a date, or even had one of the best of your life, I want that statement to make you think.
Unfortunately Valentines Day has become another money making scheme for our society. You can barely finish singing Auld Lang Syne and writing thank you notes for your Christmas gifts and already the teddy bears are in the stores, and the adds for sharis berries are playing on TV. But it doesn’t have to be all about wasting money and it certainly doesn’t have to be a day that you can only celebrate if you’re in a relationship.
For me, Valentines Day has always been a reminder to be grateful for the people in my life and to make sure they know it.
And if that’s the heart behind Valentines Day,
then every day should be Valentines Day.
I know what its like to be busy. School, work, obligations, and routines can trap us and overwhelm us and keep us so focused on our schedules that we barely have time for anything….or anyone. Sometimes our attention can get deflected everywhere except towards the people that matter most to us.
See on Valentines Day, you may expect a call from your Grandma or flowers from your significant other, and while I’m not downplaying that by any means, how special would it be to come home on some random Tuesday afternoon and find a letter from an old friend in your mailbox or to get a call just because someone was thinking about you and wanted to say hi.
Pretty dang special I’d say.
Little gestures can mean the world, and yet they honestly don’t take that much effort.
Its things like giving your Dad a hug when he first comes home from work, or brushing off the snow on your Moms car when you leave before her. Its giving someone a compliment, its sending a text to let your friend know that you’re thinking about her, its unloading the dishwasher or taking out the trash when you see its full. It’s giving your little sister goodnight hugs and telling her she’s beautiful even when her braids are lopsided. Its saying yes to going to that workout class, or out to coffee, or to a church event, even when it means you may have to stay up a little late to pay that bill or finish that homework assignment.
Buying extravagant gifts or going to a fancy restaurant with the person you love on February 14th may make for a memorable night, but its the simple little gestures on the ordinary days that show people that you truly care.
If you’re in a relationship, don’t let Valentines Day be the only day you express to your significant other their importance to you. And if you’re not, can I ask you a hard question?
Are you hopelessly waiting around for a girlfriend or boyfriend to tell you that you’re loved or are you proactively loving the people who are already in your life?
As fulfilling as feeling loved is, the satisfaction and joy that comes from loving others is far more great.
You don’t have to be in a relationship to celebrate love on Valentines Day, or any day for that matter.
We live in a dark world, full of hate and cruelty. Divorce, breakups, death, rejection and resentment are real things that we are all too familiar with. Telling someone you love them on one special day a year isn’t going to fix that.
We need to keep pursuing each other and keep loving each other during the other 364 days out of the year.
If you’re buying flowers and chocolate just because you feel pressured to, then honestly, you shouldn’t. You should spoil people because you want to. You should love others because God loved us when we were unlovable. You should serve and value others because that’s what Jesus did.
You don’t have to wait for Valentines Day, Christmas, anniversaries or birthdays to buy a little gift or write a few affirming words or just simply tell the people in your life that you love them.
You can do it now. You can do it today.
What a better world we’d live in if we treated every day like Valentines Day.
Not because we’d be receiving chocolate every day (although I certainly wouldn’t complain about that), but because we’d be proactively pursuing each other, spreading light and love to a dark and distracted world.
So here’s my challenge for you: whether its February 14th or March 14th or October 14th….keep actively and genuinely pursuing love.
Love your significant other, your mom, your dad, your siblings, your co-workers, your teachers, your pastors, your enemies.
Love deeply and love fervently.
We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow,
so lets make every day Valentines Day.
