Valentine’s Day can be a difficult day for some people. Maybe you’re single and longing for that special someone to sweep you off your feet. Perhaps you’ve been betrayed by someone you trusted—someone you thought was “the one.” Maybe you feel unseen, forgotten, or simply tired of the world’s definition of love, a definition that is often distorted and can be shallow, fleeting, and conditional. If you find yourself struggling around Valentine’s Day, take heart.
Know this, my friend: you are already deeply, infinitely, and unconditionally loved.
The love so many people long for is not found in a fleeting romance or in the validation of another person. It is found in the One who created you, the One who knows you better than you know yourself, the One who loves you so much that He suffered and died for you on the cross.
The True Meaning of Love
Our world has a distorted understanding of love. Society often equates love with mere emotion, attraction, or personal fulfillment. We are told that love is about what we can get, how someone makes us feel, or whether a relationship meets our needs. True love—the kind of love we were made for—is so much more.
Look at the crucifix. That is love. Love is sacrifice. Love is choosing the good of the other, even when it costs us everything. Jesus gave everything for us, not because we earned it and not because we were perfect. He gave us everything because He is love (1 John 4:8). He loves us despite our sinfulness and despite our flaws. This kind of unconditional love is not fickle or fleeting. It came with a cost, and it is freely given.
On a side note, most Hallmark greeting cards fail to recognize where Valentine’s Day originated from in the first place. Valentine’s Day has its roots in St. Valentine. He was a priest who lived in the 3rd century during the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius II. The emperor had outlawed marriage for soldiers as he believed that single men made better soldiers than those with families. St. Valentine, however, went against this decree and secretly married couples in love. Because of this, Valentine was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually martyred. His actions remind us that love involves courage, sacrifice, showing love for others, and also highlights the sacredness of the marriage bond.
You will Always be Loved
The world often tells us that our worth depends on whether we are wanted by another person. God’s love does not depend on our relationship status. Whether you are single, heartbroken, or feeling alone and neglected, God wants you. He chose you, and He has loved you deeply even before you were formed in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-14).
You don’t have to earn God’s love. It is His gift to you. The only question is: will you receive it? Will you allow yourself to rest in the truth that you are loved beyond measure? And will you nourish it and allow it to grow? Will you reciprocate God’s love?
Accepting God’s Love
Even if we know that God loves us, we must also accept His love. We need to allow it to transform us, to heal us, and learn from it. We learn what true love is by looking at the example Jesus gave us.
• Receive God’s Love – Spend time with Him each day in prayer. In the silence, Let Him remind you how much He loves you.
• Grow in Love – Love is more than a feeling. It is an action. Ask God to help you love as He loves and to see others through His eyes. He will give you the grace to give of yourself to others in the ways He calls you.
• Reciprocate His Love – The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). When we keep Him at the center of our lives, we experience love in a way that no human relationship could ever satisfy.
God’s Love Never Fails
If Valentine’s Day brings pain or loneliness, remember this: human love will always fall short in some way. God’s love never will. He will never betray you or abandon you, nor will He ever stop loving you.
So today, instead of focusing on what someone has said about you or to you, or what they did to you, focus on the most profound love you already have. It is a love that will never leave you, a love that suffered for you, a love that conquered death for you and opened the gates of Heaven.
You are loved, beyond measure, beyond comprehension. That is a love worth celebrating—not just today, but every single day.
