Valentine’s Day is fast approaching.  We think of this day as a day for lovers and sweethearts to remember each other.  While it has become that (cards, flowers, romantic dinners, teddy grams, etc), Valentine’s Day has it’s origins in a much different place with a much different meaning.  

Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 269 A.D. At that time,  Emperor Claudius was imprisoning Christians for not worshiping Roman gods. During this persecution Valentine was arrested. Some sources claim that he was arrested because he was performing Christian marriages, while other sources cite his continued preaching of the Christian Gospel and his aid to those faithful Christians who were being persecuted.

During the trial Valentine was asked about the Roman gods.  When he confessed the God of Christianity as being the only true God, the government threw him in prison.

It is said that while in prison, Valentine continued to minister. He witnessed to the guards. One of these guards was a good man who because of Valentine’s message of God’s love brought his whole family to be baptized.  When Claudius heard that Valentine was still making converts even in prison, so he had Valentine clubbed and beheaded.

Valentine knew that he might get caught in his Christian activities. He knew that if he told the court the truth about the Roman gods that he would be thrown in prison. He knew that if he continued to witness to Christ in the prison, he could face death.  But because he loved those who needed to hear the Gospel, he continued his work.  

So yes, Valentines Day is about love, a love that lays down one’s life for others.