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Valentine's Day Isn't About Love
Guest Blog Post by Nick Spindler
Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly. To be honest, I’ve never really been a fan of Valentine’s Day. Why do I need a special day to show someone I love them? Why is that not every day? Now I’m not saying I do a great job of showing love every day, but still, I don’t need a set aside day to do it. Here is a side note that will have nothing to do with the rest of this post: If you want to celebrate Valentine’s Day and save time and money, go out the day before or the day after. Restaurants won’t have crazy wait times and they won’t have crazy prices. If you wait until the day after you can also get all your candy for at least half off. End side note. But with Valentine’s Day, there is also something else I am not a fan of. I am not a fan of what the world tries to tell us that love is.
Everywhere you look today we are shown all this sleazy stuff and are being told it is love. We have shows like the Bachelor and Bachelorette that for who knows what reason are still airing. You don’t fall in love by making out and having sex with lots of people in a short period of time. We are constantly told (and shown in the media) that having sex outside of marriage is perfectly fine. In fact I have had conversations with people where they compared it to car shopping. "You wouldn’t want to buy a car before you test drove it.” I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. We are told that looking attractive means being super thin and wearing almost no clothing (or wearing clothing so tight it leaves nothing to the imagination). And all of this is just shoved down our throats. You can hardly watch a commercial anymore without seeing this garbage.
I have a 10 month old son, Ezekiel, who means the world to me. He has brought so much joy into my life and opened up a new side of love that I have never felt before. When he smiles and laughs it gives me a natural high. I’m addicted to it. I can’t wait to see him grow into an amazing man. It scares me to think of what love will look like by the time he is a teenager. I don’t want to raise a overly sheltered child, but I also don’t want to allow what the world calls love to be filling his mind. True love is so much different than that. True love isn’t getting candy and flowers for someone on February 14. I want my son to know how to truly love a woman. And I want a woman that loves him back.
I’ve been married to my wife, Angela, for over 3 years. We have had our ups and downs but nothing will change that I love her. And people think we are crazy for living out our marriage in a Godly way. People think it’s crazy that she would submit to decisions I have made. People think it’s crazy that I will tell her an outfit looks bad on her if she asks me (which is really just called being honest…). People think it’s crazy that we still enjoy spending time together and make time for it.
That’s why I think the Value First movement is so crucial. We need people who are going to take a stand and say no to what the world is trying to throw at us. We need people who are going to fight to bring Godly love back into the world. People who are going to fight to make marriages last. People that know that love barely has anything to do with what happens in bed. People who are going to bring back a Godly love and get rid of a lustful love. And the crazy thing is that all the other stuff is so common in today’s world that if we make a stand we will stick out. We will be like a light in the dark and people will be attracted to it.
1 John 3:16 tells us, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters." So this Valentine's Day keep that in mind. Candy and flowers and food are great, but love is laying down your life for someone. Take a stand and show some real love this Valentine's Day. Let's change the culture of society so that when our children grow up love won't be a lost value.
Connect with Nick on his social media platforms. Obviously, he's pretty awesome.
Periscope: @nspindler
Nick is a #ValuesFirstGentleman for Baby Ezekiel. Who are you "modeling the way" for?
Nick is a speaker/blogger who tells his story and encourages you to live yours. He loves to challenge people to pursue the things God has called them to do. He is also a #BigPicturePerson & a #ValuesFirst Member.
I literally almost started crying when Nick sent me his guest blog post. It's spot on. Nick really let his values shine through about Valentine's Day & the Values First Community. Are you ready to join the movement?
-Keri Owens