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The Downside of Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day has grown into a major event over the past few decades. I enjoy observing it with my husband each year, just like thousands of other couples do. Love is a wonderful thing to enjoy and to celebrate. So what is the downside of this day?

 

Millions of people feel lonely and deserted on Valentine’s. Some of you have been abandoned by your husbands and left to navigate life by yourself. Many of you singles have never found Mr. Right because you desire a godly husband who is walking with God, and such men are often difficult to find. Others of you haven’t had connections with men that provide the opportunity to marry. And there are untold numbers of you who feel very alone and unloved in the midst of your marriages. For all of you in such situations, Valentine’s Day is a reminder of your pain and your loneliness. You may have no one close enough with whom to share your sorrow, except God. And your situation often causes you to feel that even he has forgotten you.

 

Thankfully, no matter how lonely and isolated you feel, you are not truly alone. God is there and he loves you with his loyal love, ever faithful, and never changing.

 

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

 

If you are caught in the downside of Valentine’s Day, celebrate God’s great unconditional and eternal commitment of love to you, and worship the God who gave himself for you. I pray that you sense his presence and love for you today. 

Kay is a life-long Texan whose favorites are Tex-Mex, books that feed her soul or make her think, good movies and travel to new places. Her great joy is to serve God by teaching the Bible and developing women as servant-leaders. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries, which provides free videos, podcasts and articles as well as low-cost Bible studies to prepare Christian women for leadership. (beyondordinarywomen.org) Kay spent ten years leading women’s ministries on church staffs, most recently at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas. Kay is the author of From Ordinary Woman to Spiritual Leader: Grow your Influence, a practical guide to help Christian women influence others by applying foundational leadership skills to their lives and ministries, and a number of Bible studies for women, some are available at bible.org and the newer ones are found at beyondordinarywomen.org. Kay earned an M.A.C.E. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a D.Min. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Effective Ministries to Women. Kay’s family includes a husband, two grown children, one son-in-law, two hysterical granddaughters and a Goldendoodle.