OVER the next few days we shall be encouraged to buy cards, red roses, chocolate hearts and more besides to show the person with whom we are in love that the flame is still burning.

St Valentine’s Day, on February 14, is when we are encouraged to reveal our romantic side and proclaim our love. The Bible is not shy about romantic love, it contains the book called ‘the Song of Solomon’, for example.

It’s worthy of a Mills & Boon novel. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more delightful than wine” (SoS 1:2); and it gets racier than that!

Love isn’t just about romance though, we can have love for our family members, love of our friends, love of our country and love of our neighbour.

Indeed, we are taught to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18 and Mark 12:31).

The lesson for me is that we first need to be able to love ourselves before we can love others and being able to love ourselves isn’t always an easy thing to do.

With images of beautiful people with beautiful bodies that we should aspire to, with people sometimes putting us down and making us feel worthless, with unhappy memories that we continue to live with.

Yet the Bible tells us that God loves each one of us, that we are all made in his image, that each of us is unique with more potential than we realize and we are more important to Him than we can imagine.

So on St Valentine’s Day buy yourself a little treat, be kind to yourself and remember that you are loved... And then buy the present for that special someone!

REV JOHN SWANTON
Team Rector, South Cotswolds Team Ministry