The V Day - Happy Valentine’s
According to legend, Valentine’s Day began when St. Valentine, a Roman, was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. Legend says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine. The day of his death was February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. It is also said that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine. My opinion is that Valentine’s Day therefore should also be about the other V-word, Vision. St. Valentine had a vision at the time of his death - that he and the jailer’s daughter would share a special future together. On this Valentine’s Day, my wife and I are not only celebrating our anniversary (we got married on Saturday, February 14, 2004) but we are also celebrating our vision for the future of our love. When we were still engaged, we developed a marriage vision statement that has continued to empower us towards a better life. Here is the vision:As we join our lives this morning of Valentine’s Day, Saturday February 14 2004, we commit to love and live with each other as husband and wife in the honorable estate of holy and lawful matrimony. We embrace the rings that we exchange today as the symbols of our unbreakable union and our faith and belief in God’s plan as the pillar of our destiny. Our vision and mission, as a couple, is to manifest a marvelous family unit that demonstrates abundance of life and empowers others to do the same.
On the same day, we also developed values for the family that we refer to as our nuptial values. These are all outlined in my book, Battling for your Prophetic Destiny. In sharing them here, I hope that they will spur you on towards success in your relationship. Here we go: Our entire life is driven by six key values that make up the acronym FAMILY. We have dubbed these our Nuptial Values and they are:
Friendship – We believe in and are committed to the existence of affection and mutual esteem in our relationship. We endeavor to exhibit to one another the great sentiments of intimacy, respect and harmony that enrich our souls. We offer friendship to one another and those within our environment.
Attitude – We believe in and are committed to cultivating a stellar attitude. We focus on out look more than looks, disposition more than position, principles more than actions, character more than reputation, and wisdom more than knowledge. We empower one another and those within our environment.
Maturity – We believe in and are committed to interacting with one another with a high degree of sound judgment for the purpose of mutual development. We secure honest compassion, continuing perfection and a progressive condition of growth for each other and those within our environment.
Integrity – We believe in and are committed to trust, sincerity, honesty and candor in our relationship. We model sincerity, forthrightness and truthfulness with one another, valuing the other partner as better. We honor each other’s point of view and respect each other and those within our environment.
Leadership – We believe in and are committed to sound guidance and direction based on a Biblical perspective. We consistently serve and submit to each other and take initiative by providing suitable direction, solving issues and exercising measured influence to one another and those within our environment.
Yo-heave-ho – We believe in and are committed to working together to make our life the greatest it can be. We provide each other with a positive, supportive and creatively uplifting environment through which we can achieve our goals and enable those around us to do the same. (Yo-heave-ho is a motivational cry formerly used by sailors while pulling or lifting together in rhythm. We use it as the metaphor for our joint efforts in building the Najoli dynasty!)
