YOUR VALENTINE...

St Valentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day or better still; Lovers day is observed on the 14^th of every year.

Although his history is a bit shrouded in myth and facts, most scholars believe that St. Valentine was a Catholic priest who was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire. While in Prison, he healed Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer. Before his execution, he wrote her a letter and as a farewell, he signed it; “Your Valentine.” He was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion and his sacrifice for love.

The celebration of St. Valentine did not have any romantic connotation until the 14^thcentury when Geoffrey Chaucer composed a poem for the engagement between England’s Richard II and Anne of Bohemia.

Today, it is popularly referred to as “Lovers day” and is celebrated in many countries as an occasion for lovers to express love to each other through presentation of gifts, flowers, cards and so on.

This feast is not alien to Nigeria and Nigerians. As a Nigerian who has witnessed various Valentine's Day celebrations, I must confess that most Nigerians celebrate this day with reckless abandon and craziness. Sincerely, I don’t know if we are still celebrating love or lust? Read on...
I strongly believe that Love is not what we feel, but what we do. Love is caring in action and certainly not that warm or touchy feeling we get whenever we are around a familiar person. Permit me to refer you to 1st Corinthians, the famous biblical chapter on love. Chapter 13: 4-9 goes on to say that: “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

I am sure you are saying: Nikky don turn born again! Well, it is not a bad idea. However, the point I am trying to drive home is that most Nigerians have lost the idea of the whole feast or celebration. That young woman who breaks up with her partner for showing up with chocolates or flowers on Val’s day instead of a car, an invite for an expensive dinner for two, a mobile phone or a cake; that husband or wife who would rather be with a boyfriend or girlfriend instead of at home with his or her family on Val’s Day; that Young man who buys expensive gifts for his girlfriend and demands sex in return; those young men who engage in drinking sessions or sexual orgies, that youth who robs unsuspecting victims just because he wants to create lasting impressions are definitely not celebrating Love but Lust.

Although I have never seen anybody who has fulfilled all these biblical injunctions on love, If you have seen, please show me, this should not be an excuse for us to stop striving to be worthy, it should not be an excuse for christians to forget that Jesus Christ is the perfect example of True Love. Hence, love as defined in Corinthians can only be achieved when we rely on the power of God.  

Every celebration of true love must yield positive fruits and Christians must strive to celebrate true, unconditional, perfect and eternal love as freely demonstrated by Jesus Christ on the cross.I still thank God for numerous Nigerians who, In the midst of all the craziness, still know how to celebrate true love.

Wishing you all a swell and blissful Valentine's Day.