Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, (actually it is this Friday.)
This day celebrates a couple’s love to one another. Relationships can be like a strategy video game, it requires teamwork, patience and the right approach with each other in order to win. Yes, there are challenges, trials and tests, but it is through these that both people grow alongside each other and ultimately experience victory together.
This lesson however is not just for Christian couples, single Christians can also take inspiration from video gaming heroes. For them it is a season of waiting, like a lot of the characters in video games, they too must undergo part of the mission alone. I must confess, I am actually in this part of the journey myself.
But what can video games and their retrospective characters teach us about love? How can they be relevant to the seasons that a single person or a couple is in? How can video games and Christianity work together to deliver a powerful message?
Below are 5 points about the Christian meaning of Valentine’s Day and how you can celebrate it no matter what season you are in:
Staying on Mission: Keeping God at the Center
Colossians 1:17: “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
Link in the Legend of Zelda series always remains committed to his missions. It doesn’t matter what stands in his way, how many enemies he faces or even how powerful they are, that does not stop him from losing his focus as goal is to always protect Princess Zelda.
As a couple, you have your own prince or princess to focus on. While a relationship is made up of both of you, it requires God not to just be at the center, but the main objective. This is so that you can build a relationship and/or marriage that he desires you to have. Just as the land of Hyrule has many people to contribute to making it beautiful, you too have a relationship and marriage that not only grows the Kingdom, but blesses the kingdom.
For single people, you can relate to Link more as for the most part he does things alone without any allies, only a determination to accomplish what he needs to. His calling is to save Hyrule and rescue Princess Zelda from the clutches of their mortal enemy, Ganondorf. You too have a unique calling and right now that can only be accomplished with you and God only. Don’t despise the missions he has given you. Grow with him, pursue your dreams and keep trusting him every step of the way.
Just as staying on mission is important, the communication between others is equally as critical. Success, just like in gaming and love hinges down to many traits. Communication is one of the important ones.
Practical Tip: What mission has God given to each of you? Write it down so that it is clear to see and take steps to pursue it.
Communication is Key: Synching like Co-Op Partners
Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
I have had my fair share of playing games alongside another gaming partner. The key thing that we needed to help us accomplish our objectives was communication.
One of the keys to a successful relationship is communication. Whether sat next to each other or playing alongside someone in a different part of the world, gamers use a head set to communicate with others to find the best strategy, make it work and get the best result. This is much like how couples deal with things, they talk with each other, work together side by side, until the final outcome is positive.
- Gentlemen, remember: the woman is always right – well, almost always.
Single people can work on a very similar tangent towards communication, just like couples. In No Man’s Sky, you are a lone traveller who scours the universe, building your base, making a living and a name for yourself. In multiplayer mode, you can meet up with other random players and you can take on missions together and even forge friendships, not just in the game, but in real life. This then can lead to relationships and eventually you have your own Co-Op partner to be with.
Even with great and consistent communication, challenges to arise. In both games and relationships, it’s how we have face and overcome the enemies that determines the outcome, none more so than boss battles.
Practical Tip: Challenge yourself to improve your communication in one area of your life. Whether that is at work, in friendships and relationships or even in prayer. Take your time, work on yourself and you WILL see a change in a positive light.
Persevering through Challenges: The Boss Battles in Love
Joshua 1:5: No-one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
In nearly every game in existence, there are boss battles, some act as mini-bosses, others pose more of a challenge. But it is the Big Boss, usually the final character you fight as a player, who poses the greatest threat. Sometimes, you will be defeated by them. You have to hit the ‘retry’ button a few times before you emerge out on top. In life, challenges can feel like a boss battle, every single one of us faces them, no one is immune or exempt from them. The beautiful thing about bosses is that they ARE defeatable and you will have a great testimony to follow from it.
Challenges in relationships are inevitable. This is not to be negative or be ominous. This is just the nature of being together, boss battles can be relationship issues, come in the financial form, or even things that are beyond your control, yet they affect both of you. But overcoming boss battles requires effort from the both of you. When one falls, you need to pick them up again. When you work together, you CAN defeat any enemies and in turn grow closer because of what you both went through and what was required to see the victory.
Fighting a great enemy alone can be both frightening and intimidating. In fact, very often the protagonist ends up fighting the final opponent by themselves. This doesn’t mean you are alone, your allies are in a different part of the battlefield, stopping the rest of the enemy from getting to you and keeping them at bay. Take inspiration from David when he faced Goliath. Goliath was a giant, but he understood that God was bigger than him and sure enough with one stone, a throw from his sling and God behind him, Goliath was slain.
You may be going through boss battles as a single person; loneliness, doubts about ever getting married or the future in general. God is your giant slayer, always fighting for you and fighting your unseen battles. Keep persevering and just like David did with Goliath, you too WILL see victory in your life.
Overcoming challenges no matter how big or small requires some sacrifice. The heroes we see and even admire put themselves first. They are examples of what love means.
Practical Tip: What boss battles are you facing in your life right now? Name 1 or some of them and write down what practical steps, you can take to overcome it, because you will overcome them, so let this be the first push forward.
Sacrificing for the Greater Good: Be Willing to put each other First
1 John 3:16: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
In films, you see heroes make sacrifices for the greater good. Video games are no exception to this either. Joel in The Last of Us makes endless and countless sacrifices for Ellie, even though she is not his daughter. Barret from Final Fantasy VII is willing to do anything in order to not just achieve his objective, but look out for his team and put himself in the way for them. In fact, he is very often the first who is glad to get stuck into things first, one of his quotes being: “Nothing worth fighting for is never without sacrifice.”
Couples are very often required to make sacrifices for each other. It is no longer about ‘I’, it is about ‘We’. It can be very easy to forget this, especially in the early stages of a relationship of marriage. But sacrifice shows acts of love and that you are willing to out the other person first. This makes a relationship stronger because it shows commitment.
Single people however can demonstrate their acts of love by serving others. Jesus had no direct family, so to say, as his family was his father, God himself. Yet despite not being the direct blood-related son of Mary and Joseph, he still honoured, loved and respected them by putting them first. This of course then grew to his disciples and even strangers. While you are waiting for your future partner, continue to show this sacrificial love to others. The love you show others is the love that you will show your future spouse.
It is after the sacrifice that the victories come. Just as gamers celebrate wins, individuals and couples should acknowledge one another’s growth and their achievements.
Practical Tip: This week, show an act of selfless love to someone in your life.
Celebrating your Victories: Acknowledge Growth Together
1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Encourage each other and build each other up.”
I’m sure we have all heard many times before that victory is on the other side of not giving up. This is the fruit of our labors and the reward from when we have persevered, especially when we have defeated the final boss. You may be tired and exhausted from the fight, but that is ok, that is a sign of the victory you have accomplished, physical and spiritual.
One of the beautiful things about a couple is that they can celebrate victories together. Even when one is going through their own quest, they have that partner to support them, walk with them and cheer them on when they achieve it. Celebrating milestones and achievements is a part of a couple’s journey together.
Celebrating your own achievements are important. If you don’t learn to do this, you won’t be happy for when you have a partner and they achieve great things. By celebrating ourselves first, we build up our character and our confidence which allows us to help someone else out because you know how to keep someone encouraged and inspired. This is a growth period to prepare you for the person who you will send your life with. Think of your future spouse to come as a special achievement that you are working towards, at the right time, you will unlock it. (In a respectful manner).
Whether you are a couple navigating the quest of love together or a single person growing in faith, waiting for your future life partner, every journey, every side quest, every challenge you overcome leads to the ultimate victory.
Practical Tip: Moving forward, write down your small and big victories, documenting them as you continue on your journey.
Conclusion (The Final Act)
Every relationship, no matter what type, is like one big game with a journey, side missions and bosses, but has an incredible victory at the end. Mastering the game is one thing, but to achieve victory, that is entirely different and that can only be accomplished God’s way.
To the couples and the married: As Valentine’s Day of 2025 hits, you might buy each other gifts, go out on a romantic meal together, or even stay in, play some board games, and order in. There is nothing wrong with that, but this year, why not identify one area of your life where you can both ‘level up’ together? Leveling up is growing up together, that could be communication, doing something different outside your comfort zone together, or even spend time praying together.
Amid a busy life, it is easy to forget to take time out with one another, especially when God is involved. This quest of boyfriend/girlfriend or husband and wife is the both of you and God. Work with him, seek him out, involve him and you will see and be amazed at how much more God has for the both of you, together.
For single people: I understand that the waiting season is not easy, you’re watching others have relationships, and get married, and especially on Valentine’s Day, it is easy to feel more alone than ever. I 100% relate to this, so I want to provide a little bit of reassurance, you are NOT alone. But let me encourage you, your prize, your special platinum edition achievement for a partner, a spouse IS still on course. It’s just at this moment in time; you are undertaking side missions.
This is to help you gain experience and grow to become more like Christ. Your main objective is still active, the lonely season is not a permanent one. Keep being your best where you are, keep growing and developing, and eventually as you complete your side missions, over time, you will see how each of those victories contributed to the main objective and you completing it.