Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. Saint Valentine's Dead, I'm Not Good at Rhyming.

We all know what day it is. Well, some of us might not, and if you're a part of that group and currently dating someone, here's a friendly reminder.

Being the historian that I am, I feel as though it is my obligation to inform you all of the true legacy of the man who this long-distorted holiday "honors". Several different saints claim to have been martyred around February 14th, but the one who gets the credit is known to us as Saint Valentine. How did this man gain such an illustrious title, you ask? As I understand it, Valentine continued the practice of marrying people in the Christian tradition in a day and age when it had been declared illegal to do so. I'm sorry if this is a drain on all the romanticism, but I honestly think realizing what this day is about makes it meaningful. A man was killed for protecting the joining together of two people in what can be an absolutely beautiful way. That's pretty phenomenal.

I can't help but contrast the history of this day with what it has become. Let me say this before you all write me off as a cynic. I am one of the most hopeless of hopeless romantics. Were it not for the current weather, I would be driving one of my core guys and his girlfriend out to this campground where bunnies apparently run rampant, just so that they could have a nice time. I love love, I just don't love what various aspects of our culture have done to it.

The main reason why I don't love our culture's understanding of what love is has to do with the fact that I have been burned by it pretty severely. I'm going to tell you all something that is extremely personal, but I feel is pertinent to what I'm talking about here. I'm not a virgin. I lost my virginity to my first serious dating relationship back in my junior year of high school. After that particular relationship ended, I jumped from person to person, hoping to accomplish the conquest necessary to validate myself as a man, as the culture I lived in understood that term. The man I was during that time was described as a womanizer, and I don't think that was inaccurate.

A huge amount of healing and change has gone on within me, but what has been left behind is an intense frustration with our culture, particularly the fact that we are constantly told we aren't truly complete unless we are in a relationship. I'm not even dealing with issues of immorality right now. Particularly on this day, our world likes to tell us that we are missing the pivotal aspect of what our lives could be if we're not in a romantic relationship. Speaking as someone who spent years of his life running from relationship to relationship trying to find this aspect of my life, only to end up empty, I feel I can confidently say we need a lot more than a relationship to become complete.

In light of this frustration, I have something I want to say to all of those who are struggling right now with the hardship of feeling like you're not worth anything because you haven't been validated by another person. You, you, are loved, by the God who knows you better than any other person ever can.

I know this time can be painful. We're surrounded by so much romanticism it's hard to feel like we're not doing something wrong. Please, don't buy into the lie that you don't have any worth just because no one bought you flowers. I'm not saying we're not allowed to be sad today. Shoot, I'll probably go get ice cream later, because it's just one of those days. Know this, though. You're worth more than this culture could ever know. This world's version of love doesn't deserve you, and it's missing out on something incredibly beautiful. That's how God sees you.

With His love and hopefully His grace,

Taylor