With Valentines a few days away, I can’t help but think about the bold-faced lies the media is telling our young people about this thing called love.When I was growing up, love meant something beautiful and enduring. L stood for Loyalty; O stood for obedience to God first; V stood for vigilance about virtue; and E stood for eternal bonds.

Today love is a four-letter word that means a one-night-stand with no strings attached. L stands for lust, O stands for obsession with self-gratification, V stands for vanity and E stands for ego.

These acronyms for love are not new. I might have been the first to write them down in this fashion, but the meanings are as old as time itself. The Bible tells of two young men who started out to be the Lord’s favored sons, and their decisions about how they viewed the word “love” made all the difference in their lives and in the lives of others for generations to come.

David, a young shepherd boy, was “but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.” His faith was so strong that the Lord “delivered (him) out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear,” and delivered him from Goliath because he came to battle “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.”

David became king and received riches and honor, and the Lord prospered him, and for most of his life, he obeyed and honored the Lord. One evening when he should have gone to battle with the kings, he stayed at home.

“And it came to pass in an evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” David should have turned and walked away, but he looked, until his passion overcame his reason.

“And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her” (2 Samuel 11: 2-4).

David didn’t love Bath-sheba; he lusted after her. He forgot about his obedience to the Lord and became obsessed with having the woman. David had other wives, but he wanted the forbidden fruit. It didn’t matter that her husband was on the battlefield fighting for his homeland. David was obsessed with his own gratification. Virtue was no longer a thing to be protected. He would exploit it because he was the king.

David’s ego blinded him to all the consequences of his actions. His ego not only led him to adultery – destroying a woman and her marriage – but to murder by sending Uriah to the front lines to be killed. David chose our modern world’s definition of love and became one of the tragedies of the Bible. David lost his relationship with the Lord and eventually lost everything.

The final scenes of his life are filled with sorrow. He loses his son and gives his kingdom to Solomon, his son, who also is eventually destroyed by his lust. David’s friends, knowing of his lustful passion, try to solve his problem at the end of his life. “Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.

“Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.

“So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.

“And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not” (1 King 1: 1-4).

David was left at the end of his life taking no pleasure in the thing he enjoyed the most throughout his life. He had nothing left of the wonderful life he could have enjoyed if he had chosen to walk away from the temptation instead of lingering to see what happened.

Joseph who was sold into Egypt, was also a favored son of God. He had been given dreams and visions and was close to the Lord, and the Lord prospered him even though his life was filled with tragedy. He was despised and sold by his brothers.

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

“And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

“And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

“And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

“And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

“And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.”

Like King David, Joseph’s life turned around. He was prosperous and things were going well for him, but he would still be tested.

“And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

“But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master whotteh not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

“There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

“And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

“And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

“And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got him out.” (Genesis 39: 1-13)

Joseph’s view of love made him run away from temptation. He was loyal to his God first, and then to his employer. He obeyed the Lord with exactness and pushed away the lusts of the flesh. His virtue was priceless. Selling it for a steamy one-night stand wasn’t even a question. He had his eyes and heart fixed on eternity. Joseph’s life was one success story after another. He was able to save all of Egypt and all of his family. He was so well loved by his people that they carried his bones around in the wilderness for 40 years so that he could be buried in his homeland.

David and Joseph started out the same, but ended quite differently because of one choice. They defined love differently. David adopted the modern view that love is a four-letter word that means a one-night-stand with no strings attached; L stands for lust, O stands for obsession with self-gratification, V stands for vanity and E stands for ego. Joseph lived by and honored the view that love means something beautiful and enduring; L stands for Loyalty, O stands for obedience to God first, V stands for vigilance about virtue and E stands for eternal bonds.

I wonder as years go by what kind of lives our modern children will have if they continue feeding on the present diet of lies the media is dishing them. At least David and Joseph were taught, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Today’s children are taught by an idol, the media, that love is a selfish, “How do I feel?” proposition. God is not even a part of the equation. Too many children are accessing Internet porn sites that dictate that love is all about “me.” They are being sold the devil’s fare that will lead them ever on to a life of misery and woe. You can’t follow a wrong map and expect it to take you to the right destination. Reason and logic tell you that it’s not possible.

We have the commandments for a reason, and “Thou shalt not commit adultery” was not given as a suggestion. It was given as a firm decree from a loving God who knows all things, from the beginning to the end. If we follow the decree, we will be happy; if we do not, tragedy lies at our door. PD