Valentine's Day is an ancient pagan festival covered with a microscopically thin Christian veneer, and God's people do not keep it. Little is known of the two Saint Valentines, a Roman priest and the Bishop of Terni, who both died in the late third century and share the February 14 feast day. Nothing in the historical record connects either with romance; the stories of secret marriages arose centuries later. The day's real roots lie in the Roman fertility festivals of the Faunalia (February 13) and the Lupercalia (February 15), honoring Faunus and Lupercus, with strange rites of near-naked priests slapping bystanders with animal thongs and purifying women. The Lupercalia was so important that two leading noble families organized it. When Pope Gelasius I replaced it in AD 494 with the Feast of the Purification, February 14 was later left empty and was filled, apparently arbitrarily, with the two Valentines. God warns hundreds of times against adopting pagan ways or asking how the nations served their gods in order to worship Him likewise (Exodus 34:12-17; Numbers 25:1-3; Deuteronomy 12:29-32). Those called into the church should therefore decline Valentine's celebrations politely, with true reasons ready, and parents should speak with their children's teachers beforehand, kindly, since teachers do not understand these matters. Compromising with the day contradicts love for God, who commands, "Do not love the world" (I John 2:15-17). Love for God is shown by keeping His commandments and His holy days (I John 2:3, 5).

Valentine's Day is a pagan festival of lust, not a saintly or biblical observance. It descends from the Roman Lupercalia, celebrated February 14-15 in honor of Lupercus, a god of the same origin as Pan and the Phoenician Baal, and ultimately tied to Nimrod, a vicious murderer and abuser of women. Priests sacrificed goats and a dog, ran scantily clad, and struck women with goatskin strips called februa. The day became linked to Venus, goddess of sexual love, and her son Cupid, who still appears on Valentine cards. Young people were encouraged to indulge in sexual immorality. When Roman church leaders welcomed pagans into the church, they practiced syncretism, blending popular pagan customs with Christian ones. In AD 496 Pope Gelasius renamed Lupercalia St. Valentine's Day and moved it to February 14, replacing the names drawn by lot with those of saints. Protestants later dropped the saints, but Cupid, the hearts and the drawing of partners remained, so the day is as pagan and popular as ever. God forbids mixing pagan customs with His worship (Deuteronomy 12:29-31), and Paul likens such mixing to fellowship with demons (I Corinthians 10:19-21). God also commanded Israel to eradicate every vestige of paganism, not merely keep it out of worship (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). Calling the holiday secular is faulty reasoning, since all of life is to honor God. No true Christian would be someone's Valentine or wish a Happy Valentine's Day, for truth must be spoken in love, not lust.

Valentine's Day, occurring on February 14th, is a notable holiday between Christmas and Easter, celebrated this coming Friday. It is a favorite among greeting card companies, confectioners, florists, restaurateurs, and hotel owners across America, who profit significantly from the occasion. The holiday is marked by red advertising, images of cupids with their arrows, and appears harmless on the surface. However, its origins are deeply rooted in pagan practices, predating Christianity by centuries. It began as a Roman fertility and purification feast dedicated to Lupercus, a god of the hunt and fertility, associated with wolves. Strange rituals, such as young men or priests whipping women with goat thongs to promote fertility or ensure safe childbirth, were part of this festival. The holiday was later adapted by the Catholic Church in 496, dedicating it to a Saint Valentine, though historians are uncertain which of two possible figures named Valentine—one a Roman priest, the other a bishop of Terni in central Italy—it honors. The feast day of Saint Valentine coincided with the pagan festival of Lupercalia, leading to a blending of traditions. Symbols like the heart, once linked to ancient Babylonian terms, and Cupid, the son of Venus and god of erotic love, further tie the holiday to pagan remnants. Valentine's Day poses spiritual and physical dangers, particularly for children, by encouraging premature romantic relationships that could lead to lifelong consequences. It promotes pairing off before individuals are ready for marriage, contrary to the principle of there being a proper time for love. Additionally, the holiday is not about genuine love but about lust and licentiousness, as evident in advertising that heavily focuses on sexual themes. The majority of those celebrating with fervor are often singles, engaging in behaviors that contradict the call to walk properly and avoid revelry, drunkenness, and lewdness. For these reasons, Christians should not celebrate Valentine's Day. Its pagan origins remain unchanged by any superficial Christian overlay, it encourages children to develop romantic interests too early, and it is rooted in lust and sins of the flesh that believers are striving to overcome. Valentine's Day is not a gray area; it is not a Christian holiday, and no Christian should observe it.

In stark contrast to true worship of God in spirit and truth, many in this world celebrate holidays like Saint Valentine's Day with fleshly practices and lust, directly opposing the principles of agape love. This celebration, rooted in sexual immorality, stands in defiance of God's commandments. Historically, Valentine's Day traces back to pre-Christian times, originating with the Roman festival of Lupercalia, celebrated on February 14 and 15, honoring Lupercus, a deified hunter linked to Nimrod, a figure of defiance against the Lord. This sensuous festival encouraged licentious acts among young Romans, and despite its pagan roots, it was incorporated into Christianity in the fifth century AD by the Catholic Church through syncretism, renaming it Saint Valentine's Day while retaining much of its original character. The Lupercalia involved crude rituals, including priests running through Rome in goatskin girdles, striking women with strips called februa to supposedly remove infertility, connecting the day to purification and sexual availability. Linked with Venus, the goddess of sexual love, and her son Cupid, the festival became a feast of lust, with imagery of Cupid shooting arrows into hearts persisting into modern times on Valentine's cards and decor. Though less overtly sexual today, the celebration remains as popular as ever. Through syncretism, the Catholic Church, under Pope Gelasius in AD 496, officially Christianized Lupercalia, shifting its observance to February 14 and redirecting focus to Christian saints. Despite efforts to overlay Christian elements, the day retained its pagan essence, with practices like drawing lots for Valentines evolving over time but maintaining their secular and sensual nature, especially after the Protestant Reformation diminished the focus on saints. Even now, Cupid and arrowed hearts remain central symbols, showing the celebration's unchanged core as a popular, pagan-rooted event. Valentine's Day, unmentioned in the Bible, reflects a secularized culture indifferent to its heathen origins, prioritizing enjoyment over truth. This apathy and moral decay result from diluting truth and appealing to base desires, falling far short of worshipping the Father in spirit and truth as He desires.

Valentine's Day is a continuation of the ancient Roman rite of Lupercalia, a fertility festival celebrated on February 15 in honor of the god Lupercus. This pagan observance involved sacrifices of goats and a dog, with goats' blood smeared on young men and wiped off with wool dipped in milk, while men wearing goatskin struck women to ease labor or promote fertility. The name Valentine derives from the Latin "valens," meaning strong or mighty, and is linked to Nimrod, a mighty hunter associated with fertility gods like Baal and Pan, who are tied to Lupercus. Symbols of Valentine's Day, such as the heart, trace back to Babylonian influences where the word for heart resembled Baal, emblematic of Nimrod, and Cupid, depicted as a hunter with bow and arrows, is also connected to Nimrod. The date of Valentine's Day shifted from February 15 to February 14, possibly due to ancient customs of counting days from sunset or by order of Pope Gelasius in AD 496. The Lupercalia's date relates to the winter solstice and purification rituals forty days after a supposed birth date of Nimrod on January 6. Traditions like exchanging Valentines originated from drawing names during Lupercalia, and the color red, associated with sin and immorality in various contexts, is prominent in Valentine's Day imagery. This holiday, rooted in paganism and tied to Babylon, lacks redeeming value and is a worldly celebration from which God's people are urged to separate.

St. Valentine's Day, once known as the fertility celebration Lupercalia, stands as a prominent example of pagan customs that God warns His first fruits to avoid. This day ranks number one in candy sales, with billions spent annually on cards, candy, and gifts, drawing in an average consumer expenditure of over one hundred dollars. School teachers receive the most cards, followed by children, who exchange hundreds of millions of cards with classmates and family, showing how deeply this celebration targets the young. Red roses, favored by the Roman goddess of love, Venus, are produced in vast quantities for this day, further tying it to ancient pagan worship of desire and affection. God does not want His people involved in such celebrations, urging them to remain holy and separate from customs used to honor other gods. Despite claims of it being mere fun or tradition with family and children, God's clear instruction is to avoid adopting these practices, recognizing the cunning ways satan uses to draw even the faithful into pagan observances through loved ones and societal pressures.

The days and months and seasons and years that Paul criticizes the Galatians for observing were pagan, idolatrous festivals and observances that they had kept before their conversion. These could not be God's holy days, as the Gentile Galatians had never observed them prior to being called. Instead, they were returning to their old, heathen way of life, which included keeping various superstitious holidays connected to the worship of pagan deities. Among such days rooted in paganism are holidays like Valentine's Day, which have origins in the worship of pagan gods. These scriptures emphasize that God has called us completely out of the ways of this world, including its pagan customs and traditions, and we should have nothing to do with such weak and beggarly elements.

In the discussion of modern practices within Israelitish nations, there is a critique of celebrations such as Valentine's Day, alongside other holidays like Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and birthdays. These are viewed as rooted in human tradition rather than in God's revelation, reflecting a focus on festivity and self-glorification rather than true worship. Specifically, Valentine's Day is highlighted as part of a broader trend of mainstream Christianity engaging in religious traditions that prioritize celebration over the word of God, contributing to a sense of spiritual emptiness and dissatisfaction. This mirrors the unfaithfulness and hypocrisy seen in ancient Israel, where outward religiosity masked a deeper rejection of God's ways.