Women

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On Valentine’s Day: Make Your First Love a Priority

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
I John 4:8 (NIV)

Written by: Carla J. Curtis

The Valentine’s Day holiday is vastly approaching and it is often referred to as the day for lovers and the words “love” and “romance” are often used in connection with it. The purchase of chocolate, candy, flowers, balloons, cards, jewelry as well as dining out on Valentine’s Day occurs at an all-time high. In fact, according to Statistic Brain, the average annual Valentine’s Day spending is 13.19 million (http://www.statisticbrain.com/valentines-day-statistics/).

Although Valentine’s Day is a holiday that many women anticipate; unfortunately, for some, this holiday is often dreaded and even turns into a day of misery, depression and/or pity party because they are not married or in a serious relationship. However, as a Christian woman, I encourage you to make spending intimate time with God a top priority on Valentine’s Day no matter what your relationship status is rather than getting consumed with the world’s “hype” of this holiday. I certainly believe in celebrating this day of “love” and “romance;” nonetheless, I want to remind you that is important to spend intimate time on Valentine’s Day with the One who gave you life and most importantly who should be the ultimate love of your life.

When you make your first love a priority on Valentine’s Day, your main focus shifts from the commercialism of this day to what is most important – your relationship with God. As Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV) says, Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

To become more intimate with God on Valentine’s Day, here are some suggestions:

• Make it a priority to just be still in order to de-clutter your mind so that you can hear from God
• Have your own retreat with God where you set aside a certain timeframe to just read the Bible, pray and meditate
• Turn off the TV, computer and cell phone for a certain timeframe and simply listen to some gospel music to soothe your soul
• Write down your thoughts or love letter to God in a journal

In addition to making your first love a priority on Valentine’s Day, I believe that it is also important to take the focus off yourself and show love to others because you just never know how your act of kindness is going to bless someone. As 1 John 4:7 (NKJV) states, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Below are some examples of things that you can do:

• Volunteer at a nursing home, children’s hospital or homeless shelter
• Give a gift card to someone from their favorite store or restaurant
• Spend time with a recent widow that is still in the grieving process
• Send a nice note or card to someone you may know that is incarcerated

Being able to celebrate “love” and “romance” on Valentine’s Day is truly a blessing, but just remember that it is most important to take time out of your day for intimacy with God and also to “love on” someone else!

2013 © Carla J. Curtis

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