The Barefoot Evangelist

Valentine’s Day didn’t begin with roses, chocolates, or candlelit dinners.

It began with a priest.

As the story is told: In the third century, under the rule of the Roman Emperor Claudius II, young men were forbidden to marry. The emperor believed single men made better soldiers than husbands and fathers. A Christian priest named Valentine quietly disagreed.

So he did something small. And dangerous.

He continued performing marriages in secret.

Not because he was sentimental about romance, but because he believed love, commitment, and faithfulness mattered. He believed that covenant was worth protecting. He believed people should be free to promise their lives to one another.

For this, he was arrested.

While in prison, legend says he befriended the jailer’s blind daughter and prayed for her healing. Before his execution, he left her a note signed, “from your Valentine.”

He was martyred on February 14th, put to death for refusing to stop helping people love well.

That is the man behind the holiday.

Not a mascot for romance, but a witness to sacrificial love, courageous conviction, and quiet faithfulness.

Valentine’s Day, at its heart, is not about feelings.
It’s about choosing love when it costs something.

It’s about loyalty in a culture that treats people as disposable.
It’s about keeping promises when it would be easier not to.
It’s about believing that love is more than emotion – it’s an act of will.

So if this day feels commercial, hollow, or overly sentimental, you’re not wrong.

But beneath the cards and candy is a story worth remembering.

A man who believed love was worth protecting.
A man who risked his life so others could make a lifelong promise.
A man who understood that the truest forms of love are often quiet, brave, and costly.

Maybe this Valentine’s Day is an invitation.

Not to feel more love.
But to live it more deliberately.