Four tips on surviving Valentine’s Day ALONE with style

Four tips on surviving Valentine’s Day ALONE with style February 10, 2016

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It happens every February.

Pink and red decorations, cheap candy in heart-shaped boxes, and romantic cards start showing up in grocery stores.  It’s a time to show the world that YOU ARE LOVED and you have proof — just check out the Instagram of the roses and candy!

If you’re single during Valentine’s Day, it might be a pretty annoying time.  In fact, people sometimes get too ironic with the date — making a big deal out of the fact that they don’t need a man or woman to complete them.  Which is true, but sometimes it is cold comfort for the single people looking at all the romantic social media posts.

Here are four ways you can get through Valentine’s Day with style:

1.  Care for the people around you well.

You don’t have to show only ROMANTIC love on Valentines Day.  It’s a wonderful time for parents to do something cute for their kids, too. One of my favorite Valentine’s Day memories came a few years ago. I was dating a great guy, who just was not good at things like gift giving.  My sister knew he wouldn’t do anything for me, so she had a heart shaped pizza sent to me. Haha!  Gestures that like make memories that last a lifetime.

2.  Know that you are, in fact, LOVED.

Chris Smith at the Gospel Coalition writes:

God loves you. That simple statement should blow you out of your chair. Sadly, however, the truth has lost its power for many Christians. Our culture assumes and even demands God love everyone the same—no exceptions. Even within the church, God’s love can be tossed around so lightly believers begin to think he’s required to love them. If we’re honest, his love rarely shocks us anymore, since we rarely pause to ponder the scandal of a holy God embracing a rebellious people. We’ve all sinned and fallen short of divine glory. We were children of wrath, dead in trespasses and enemies of God. But God, being rich in love, while we were yet sinners, gave up his Son as a bloody substitute for us. And now, resurrected and ascended to the right hand of the Father, he intercedes for us and has sent his Spirit to be with us. God’s love is unearned, unfettered, and unending, and it’s given to everyone who relies on Jesus as Savior and Treasure—regardless of your relationship status.

3.  Know that you aren’t ALONE.

Smith continues:

Not only are you loved, you are, in fact, never alone. God built you to be in relationship with himself. Again, let that sink in for a moment. The one lacking nothing, the one surrounded by a heavenly court that praises him without ceasing, and the one who’s been satisfied in love and communion with his triune self from all eternity, that God made you by hand and wants a relationship with you. Of course, we’re all relationally broken because of our sin. But if you’re trusting the Son, the Spirit dwells inside you, and you can commune with the Father at all times. An overflowing fountain of joy—God himself—is within you. Friend, you are not alone.

4.  Take a break from social media.

The more you compare your life to others, the worse it is.  Here’s the truth that you already know: people only post the most heavily filtered version of their lives online.  (You know it, because you do that too!)  So, don’t compare your real life to the edited version of your friends… especially on Valentine’s Day when people are hell-bent on posting their MOST ROMANTIC DAY EVER.

Please.

Take a step away from your phone, know you are loved, that you aren’t alone, and that February 15th is coming.

(Plus, take comfort that you didn’t gain any weight from eating all that cheap candy!)

Buy my Mom’s new devotional, Sweet Freedom, in bookstores everywhere!

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