“What’s your favorite holiday?”

This classic conversation question has been hard for me to answer.

My family celebrates multiple holidays and all of them are special to me. Of course, it seems like the correct answer to the question ‘What’s your favorite holiday?’ should be either Christmas or Easter.

Christmas is the time we remember and celebrate Christ’s birth, His taking on human flesh for our sake (John 1:14). Easter is the time we remember Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and His triumphal resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Both of these holidays are very important and they grow in meaning for me as the years go by.

But if I’m really honest, my personal favorite holiday is actually…Valentine’s Day.

It’s my favorite for several reasons, the most important of which is that to me it is a celebration of God’s love.

Growing up my Mom made Valentine’s Day a whole family event. It was a time to celebrate God’s love for us and our love for each other. Some years our family’s celebration of Valentine’s Day was simple, other years more elaborate!

On occasion we would do a creative activity. One particularly meaningful craft project was writing Bible verses about God’s love on paper hearts and laminating them. We still use those cards as a decoration and/or as a guide for prayer around the dinner table.

Yet more than the decorations or crafts it’s the meaning that draws our hearts together. One of the most essential truths we need to know as human beings is that God loves us. My parents emphasized this to me since before I can remember and celebrating a Christ-centered Valentine’s Day was one of the ways they did so.

The result?

As a single in my 30s Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday and one of the seasons when I feel most wrapped in the love of God. It’s a time to rejoice in what I know to be true in the depths of my soul, that God loves me. His love for me is not dependent on my performance; I do not have to earn it (Romans 5:8). It is freely given and since I have opened my heart to receive not just Christ, but His love, my joy goes beyond words.

Oh the wonder that I am loved by God!

And what a joy to offer back my love to Him! I do this through cultivating my relationship with Him and through letting His love spill over from my heart into the lives of others (Matthew 22:37-39). It’s wonderful to have a holiday that gives me a special opportunity to focus on doing this.

Celebrations are a time to remind ourselves of what is true and important. Valentine’s Day is certainly no exception. For when we know we’re loved, by God and others, celebrating comes quite naturally.

May your family’s Valentine’s Day this year be full of joy as you consider His great love for you!

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