If you are the least bit cynical, you struggle a bit with finding sincerity on Valentine's Day. I admit, I'm just a little-itty-bit cynical and therefore, Valentine's Day has never been a big deal in our house, although Patrick does go out of his way to get me flowers and usually suggests a date night. And I'd probably be a little upset if he didn't do something -- even though I say he doesn't need to.

This morning, an email was sitting in my inbox that got me to thinking maybe it's not such a silly holiday after all.

I wonder if we are so hesitant to celebrate love because our world has turned it into being so much about what you get out of it and lust and how you happen to feel about the one you currently happen to be with at the time. To us, romance is proven when the guy and the girl in the movie finally sleep together, not actually commit to serving one another for the rest of their lives. We know in our hearts this isn't how it's supposed to be... So we turn the one day a year set aside to celebrate love into something cheesy, all Hallmark-ified, something mostly children participate in and in our grown up world pretend we don't care.

I think God cares. A search on the word "love" shows up in the NIV Bible 687 times!

It is patient. It is kind. It does not envy or boast or get prideful. It wants nothing to do with anything evil. It builds others up, rather than tearing them down with our actions or the things we say. It requires proof of its existence. (I Cor. 13, II Cor. 8:24)

We've forgotten that true love, love that comes from the Father, is about sacrifice. The sacrifice of a father who gave up his only son to save a dying world. This little, four-letter-word, "love" is such a huge, profound thing, we must actually have the revelation of God himself to understand how wide and long and high and deep is his love for us! (Eph. 3:18)

The following excerpt comes from Lorrie Flem, author/publisher of TEACH Magazine.

In the year 269 AD the world was in turmoil, much like today. Claudius II had forbidden young men to marry, believing single men, free of family concerns made better soldiers. He also was severely persecuting Christian people throughout the Roman Empire. In Rome there was a priest named Valentinus who was secretly marrying Christian couples in spite of Claudius.

(Does it get any more romantic than that? A boy and a girl so desperately in love, with a forbidden love, that they run away to marry in secret. Hmm, I think one of literature's most-enduring love stories had that same plot... Romeo and Juliet, anyone?)

Valentinius was arrested and sent to the prefect of Rome who, when he could not persuade Valentinus to renounce his faith, he recommended that he be beaten with clubs and beheaded.
While awaiting his execution, Valentinus became friends with his jailer's blind daughter. They would have long conversations together in his prison cell. On the eve of his death, he penned a farewell note to the jailer's daughter, signing it, "From your Valentine."

On February 14, 270 AD, Valentinus' sentence was carried out. He was beaten and beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. In 496 AD Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom.

Today, we still celebrate Valentine's Day, though few know of its background and meaning. But the day is one of loving expression. Children give valentines to each other. Lovers share gifts and notes of deep sentiment. Candy, flowers, jewelry and so many other things are given and received. The wording, though sometimes more elaborate, still remains "From your Valentine."

Remember this Valentine's Day, when you ask someone to "Be Mine," you are really saying to them, "I will sacrifice for you. I will do what is best for you regardless of my own desires. I will love you as God has loved me. I will represent to you the love of the Bible, the Bible that the real St. Valentine died defending."

Seems a little tougher than just chocolates and flowers, huh?