Valentine’s Day is less than 48 hours away.  Do you have plans?

Valentine’s Day has become one of the major spending holidays in the U.S.  According to one online article, approximately $18 billion is spent on this holiday (including $367 million on pets).  That’s a lot of flowers and teddy bears. 

Chances are high that you have spent some hard-earned cash on this day.  Valentine’s Day is a formidable consumer holiday.  But, imagine what would happen if chunks of that money started going toward a greater cause .

Sasha Dichter has begun a movement to rebrand Valentine’s Day.  Since 2008, Valentine’s Day has also been celebrated as Generosity Day – a day to say “yes” to all requests for generosity.  So, if a stranger asks for a meal, the answer would be “yes.”  If a homeless man asks for change, the answer is “yes.”  If a friend asks for a favor, the answer is “yes.”

Ironically, about 2000 years ago, another man called for the same type of generous living.  He said,

Jesus not only called for His followers to live generously one day a year, but He called us to day-to-day lifestyle generosity.

What if…Valentine’s Day became a reminder of living according to the ways of Jesus?

What if…all Christians started using Valentine’s Day as a way to actively love their neighbors as themselves?

What if…you took your neighbor a dozen roses and a teddy bear?  (Just kidding.  That would be weird.)  But, seriously, what if our churches decided to use this day each year to demonstrate the love of God in tangible ways to their local communities?

Imagine how far $18 billion dollars (or even $367 million dollars) could go in sharing the love of God.  Beyond that, imagine how far it could go in helping us to better walk in the ways of Jesus.

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What are your plans for giving generously this Thursday?  Let us know in the comments below.