The Divine Valentine

Give It To Jesus!

    I’ve never celebrated Valentine’s Day, not even once. One year I received a plastic rose from my sister’s boyfriend. It was a nice gesture, but I wanted my own boyfriend to lavish gifts on me that expressed his undying affection. Another year, I was sorta, kinda dating someone, but I only received a measly text, no phone call and certainly no gifts. I would have gladly accepted a cheesy e-card, but I guess for him that was asking for a bit more imagination than he could muster, but I digress.

    2014 is the first year I’ve faced V-Day with happy indifference. I can proudly say that I’m a happily single woman. Yay! God has really been working on me. I’m finally seeing the manifestation of prayers I sent up in 2010. I asked to be whole and emotionally stable. I asked the Lord to uproot and purge any and everything from my heart that didn’t belong there. I asked Him to replace it with the Fruit of the Spirit and all other Christian virtues worth having.This year, I decided I’m my own Valentine. I can’t believe how my outlook of myself has changed in the last few years. I’m worthy of all those things I used to think I lacked because I was inadequate. What were some of those things:

  

• Love
• Success
• My own family
• Happiness

     Does it sound weird that I’m my own Valentine? Well, let me explain. As I revealed above, I didn’t think very much of myself before Christ swooped in and rescued me. I was bound by low self-esteem, no purpose or direction, and mild depression. So now, I love me. I have purpose and direction. I’m loved by Jesus and find my worth in Him. I’m learning to love my body. I’m learning to love every single part of me. And guess what?  There’s no man in the picture, well expect for the one by the Father’s right hand, but you know what I’m talking about.

     I need no validation from men. There’s no Valentine’s Day Trauma. I can celebrate, if I chose. I have one of the greatest gifts ever bestowed on me besides everlasting life; I have the gift of myself. I’m unique, I’m worthy, I’m forgiven, I’m my future husband’s good thing (Proverbs 18:22). I’m daughter of the Most High. There’s nothing I lack while I’m waiting on my intended, my Boaz, my Adam. I look forward to celebrating V-Day in the future, but right now, I will not rob myself of the joy of celebrating my new-found identity in the Lord, even on Valentine’s Day.

     Sisters, beautiful women of God! I know how hard it is to live year after year without as much as a hello from the opposite sex. I know what it’s like to walk the streets on Friday nights and Saturday evenings and see couples embraced and staring into each other’s eyes. I know what it feels like to struggle with loneliness, often in silence. I know what it’s like to feel unloved and invisible. I know that pain. I know that void. I know what it feels like to hear constantly about being “content in singleness” and to “wait on the Lord’s timing.” If I could give you any gift at all, this Valentine’s, it would be for you to see how loved you are already. Allow Christ to love you; allow Him to fill that void. Allow Him to give you the gift of yourself.

     I could quote hundreds of Bible passages to encourage you to embrace God’s love instead of disappointment on V-Day, but make an effort to seek Him on those pages. He’s already poured out the greatest love letter you will ever receive. He’s already stretched His arms as wide as they would go on the cross so He could give you the sweetest embrace. Don’t miss the opportunity to get closer to God and embrace this season of singleness. Don’t waste another second lamenting the man who God hasn’t sent to call on you yet. Below, I will post a Valentine’s Day poem I wrote some years ago. I hope it will resonate with you and allow you to focus on the Beloved who gave Himself as a sacrifice for the world because of His great love.

God’s Valentine

It’s sort of sordid affair

To see the gifts and chocolates and flowers

None of which I will receive

No secret admirers or amorous fellows shadowing

My doorstep

But wait!

I forgot. There is such a One

He remembers me every morning

With a glorious kiss of sunshine

My diamonds are the stars He placed in the sky

Many of years ago, so I could gaze

At their beauty at the precise moment He knew

I’d be watching. My flowers blossom in the springtime

Not a simple bouquet

But a botanic feast of tulips, roses, lilies and daisies

In whatever color I fancy.

This Love does not count my failures

Or magnify my faults

He accepts me the way I am

My lacks, my imperfections

And every wrong thing that dwells in me

But loves me too much to leave me that way

He is my God, He is my Valentine.