By Kelly Wise Valdes

Valentine’s Day is a special day of the year where people go out to dinner, send flowers and give cards that tell their loved ones how much they appreciate them. But, many people don’t know how Valentine’s Day started.

History tells us that a long, long time ago there was a priest named Saint Valentine who performed secret marriages when the emperor ordered that no young men should be married because all the men were needed to fight in the war.

Even though Saint Valentine helped people get married, the most important part of remembering Valentine’s Day is that the Bible tells us that God is love and we need to love others the way God loves us.

How do we show others we love them? We talk to them, try to get to know them better, listen to them and we spend time with them. We can do all these things for God. Sometimes just being kind to someone who is having a bad day will show them God’s love.

Loving our family is normally easy. Even though we get mad at our parents sometimes because they don’t let us do something, we still love them. Loving our friends should be easy because we pick the people we want to be friends with. 

There are many, many people that don’t believe in God and that purposely do things that hurt Him and God still loves them. Loving people that aren’t always nice may seem impossible, but it’s not impossible with God’s help. By asking for God’s help we will be able to love our enemies easier when we just can’t do it on our own.

As you grow up, you will find out more and more how important love is. It’s easier to love than to hate, so have lots of fun learning to love God and everyone around you.

1 John 4:8 – Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

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Kelly Wise Valdes
Kelly Wise Valdes has been writing for the Osprey Observer since 2008. She graduated in 1989 from Florida Southern College with a B.S. in Communications and enjoys writing and traveling. She currently resides in northern Hillsborough County with her husband, David. When not traveling and writing, Kelly and her husband enjoy spending time with their five grown children (as well as their grandchildren) that still keep them very busy.