Valentine day (February 14th) is a day set aside yearly in many countries of the world to celebrate friendships especially romantic friendships by exchanging gifts. The friendship celebration is often between boys and girls. It has become a popular feast that many young people look forward to. Some reasons for the popularity of Valentine day celebration include: (i) Religion beliefs – It is basically of Roman Catholic origin (a movement with large followership); (ii) Economic gains – According to Greeting card Association, an estimate of not less than one Billion of valentine cards are sent out every year; those who make money out of it would encourage its celebration; (iii) Carnal satisfaction that it brings - It is popularly called the lovers’day and it gives great opportunities for loose talk, immoral expression between male and female especially youths. Many youths merely move with the crowd without understanding the origin of the celebration, the meanings of the symbols associated with the celebration, Bible principles and Divine expectations from us( whether or not to participate). Those who promote it hardly would teach the origin and the implications of getting involved and so many young innocent minds are misled. This is quite unfortunate.
1. THE BIRTH AND DESCRIPTION OF VALENTINE DAY CELEBRATION
Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Jeremiah 10:2; Acts 15:29; Matthew 5:28.
The origin of valentine day celebration neither has anything to do with real Christianity nor is it in the Bible. Valentine day celebration originated from the Roman empire when idol worship was the order of the day. It’s origin is therefore satanic. At the time, a festival called Lupercian festival was held every February 15th in honour of “Lupa” the god of fertility. To begin the festival, members of Luperci, an order of Roman priests would gather at a cave where the infants Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome) were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or Lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat for fertitlity and a dog for purification, they will then remove the goat’s skin, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets gently slapping both women and crops with it. Roman women loved it because, it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day all the young women in the city would place their names in a big bowl. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and then become paired in the year with his chosen lady. The practice thus embraced nudity and immorality in which young men and women are paired up without being married. Oftentimes, the pairs end up in marriage. Consequently marriage was a common experience at the time. When Claudius became emperor he changed everything. Fearing that men would refuse their duty to fight because they would not want to leave their wives behind, he cancelled all marriages. However, young couples still fall in love and still wished to be married. They took these desires to a Catholic priest named Valentine, who against the law of the Emperor that soldiers should not be married, continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s action was discovered by Claudius, he had him arrested and ordered him to be put to death. While waiting in jail, Valentine began exchanging letters with the jailer’s daughter and soon fell in love with her. The day he was to be beheaded, he wrote her one last note and signed it: “From your Valentine”.
In 313 A.D, the Roman emperor, Constantine the great legalised the Christian religion and by 380 A.D it became state religion of the Roman Empire. This action enabled the teachings of the Christian religion to spread unhindered and saw many pagans changing to Christian religion. However, the pagans who adopted christianity did not totally abandon their previously held traditions and practices. One of such traditions is the celebration of fertility known as Lupercalia. Knowing its popularity, he sought to replace it with what to him was more appropriate. He therefore changed the Lupercalia festival that was held on February 15 to St Valentine Day celebration on February 14 to honour the Matyr St. Valentine. Interestingly, in 1969 the Roman Catholic Church removed St Valentine day from its calendar of ’official holidays’ yet it is unduely celebrated today (possibly because of the economic gains by some and the carnal satisfaction that comes with it).

2. BAD INFLUENCES AND DESECRATIONS AT VALENTINE
Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Jeremiah 10:2; Acts 15:29; Matthew 5:28.
Valentine Symbols: The various symbols associated with valentine celebrations are satanic.
Red roses - These were the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Red is also the colour that signifies strong feelings. Those who partake are in association with Roman goddess of love.
Doves and lovebirds. These are two birds which mate for life and it was once believed that they chose their mate in the middle of February. It encourages and attracts the power behind carnal satisfaction among two people of opposite sex who are not legally married. Therefore, rather than the love they claim to demonstrate, it promotes lust and leads to hell.
The logo associated with Valentine day consists of a heart coloured red with arrow piercing through the heart. This speaks volumes. The interpretation of the logo reveals the following:
(i) A heart full of false love called lust
(ii) The red colour is a sign of danger that may lead to abortion of unwanted pregnancy after the celebration
(iii) The arrow indicate the life-long sorrow and regret that will be brought into the life of immoral people. Be warned do not get involved.
Valentine celebration is associated with all forms of desecrations and unGodly acts that necessitates Christian youths non participation in it. Some of them are as follows:
1. February 14 was an old celebration to Juno Februata, the Roman goddess of sexual passion. February 15 was the pagan feast of Lupercalia, celebrated in Rome long before Christ. In 494 AD, the Pope whitewashed Juno Februata and Lupercalia as Saint Valentine’s Day.

2. It included pairing adolescents by chance drawings for casual sex and illegal partnership between unmarried young men and ladies. Lupercalia customs included casual sex, going steady, and marriage based on mere chance.
3. The pagan feast day Lupercalia was a fertility rite and celebration of superstitious Romans. Lupercus, the Roman god after which the holiday is named, was the pagan god of fertility. Cupid, an essential part of Valentine’s Day law and customs,was the Roman god of love.

6. Saint Valentine, was only a saint in Rome’s opinion, not God’s
7. Christians have no agreement with winged red devils that shoot arrows of lust into hearts
8. It honours infatuation and lust: both are contrary to Christian love (I Corithians 13:4-7; Ephesians 5:25)
9. Only lust occurs by fiery darts in the heart; love is the conscious choice to serve another
10. It is abomination in God’s sight to marry through chance as it was practised during Valentine day celebration. Christians marry only in the Lord, and they are very sober about love (I Corithians 7:39; 11:11)
Conclusively, “Love” is the central theme of the legend of valentine, but is it love that is actually being propagated? Valentine was said to have sacrificed his life for the love of others, is his the perfect sacrifice? Valentine celebration is majorly centered on romance and affection between men and women who are mostly unmarried, this has led to an escalated number of young people engaging in immoral acts in the name of love. The sacredness of the intimacy that should exist only between married couples has been desecrated through practices such as this, the beauty of brotherly love that should exist among brethren in the Church has also been tarnished and stained by this culture and daily God is weeping over the young people of the world because they fail to grasp what Love is all about and has been deceived and blinded by the lies of the devil. The lies of “lust” presented as Love.

Valentine day does not come and go without its social and spiritual consequences and implications among youths. Specially, the feeling of in fatuations (unreasonable feelings of love that one has for a short time) that goes along with the day coupled with immoral expression of such “love” comes with the following consequences: (i) Loss of chastity (purity of life);
(ii) Unwanted pregnancy; (iii) Damage of future career; (iv) Life-long sorrow of heart; (v) Loss of relationship with God and heavenly citizenship for those who were once born-again.

3. BIBLICAL INJUNCTIONS AND DIVINE EXPECTATIONS
Deuteronomy 12:29-32; Jeremiah 10:2; Acts 15:29; Matthew 5:28.
Valentine day is not scriptural – There is no where in the old and new Testament that such celebration was hold.
The Holy Bible tells us explicitly:
Flee fornication (I Corinthians 6:18);
Have no fellowship with unfruitful work of darkness (Ephesians 5:11)
Have no other gods before GOD (Exodus 20:3). You have no business with these Roman gods called Lupercus and Cupid. There is one God (I Timothy 2:5). He is the ultimate source of love because He is love (I John 4:16)
Our Lord commanded us to come out of false religion and not even touch it (2 Corithians 6:14-17)
Our Lord commanded us to come out of Roman religion and reject her sins. (Revelation 18:4)
Valentine day celebration is highly esteemed among men, so it must be an abomination to God (Luke 16:15)
The Bible encourages Christians to abstain from all appearances of evil. Avoid evil and the appearances of it (I Thess. 5:22) This means that we must avoid and refuse to participate in anything that directly or remotely resembles evil. Exchange of gifts, love letters, text messages etc on valentine’s day is appearance of evil and would not bring glory to God.


We should not compromise God’s word. There is no way so called love would be celebrated during Valentine without attaching pagan valentine sentiment and even unconciously making covenant with the Roman goddess of lust called love.
The real love from God graciously portrayed the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Through this sacrifice, men and women who had been sinners, undeserving of God’s love were brought into an intimate relationship with their maker and creator in a holy romance that beats the imagination of even Angels. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
This is the true meaning and example of Love.
This love can become yours today only if you decide to become a friend of Jesus Christ the Lover of your soul.

This is nothing but the truth. If you know the truth,it shall set you free from this seasonal bondage. Joseph wouldn't have been honoured by God if he had yielded to Portiphar's wife probably on the much publicised Valentine day.

blessednamso:
This is nothing but the truth. If you know the truth,it shall set you free from this seasonal bondage. Joseph wouldn't have been honoured by God if he had yielded to Portiphar's wife probably on the much publicised Valentine day.

Really, Joseph said to her-how can I commit this great wickedness and SIN against God? He ran away damning the consequences..Unfortunately,Reuben went to his father's concubine and was cursed by his father....Dinah got defiled and remained a young comfortless widow.....Ammon slept with his half-sister, Tamar and died prematurely....Samson went into an harlot and Delilah and, lost his eyes,power n died shamefully with his enemies.
Be wise today and flee!

Thanks for enlightening us. I pray this is moved to front page. Let's educate the teeming youth population who are being carried away.
Oga Seun pls do the needful.