The World Council of Churches (WCC) is inviting people to share their reflections on love for Valentine's Day as part of its #ThursdaysinBlack campaign.

#ThursdaysinBlack promotes solidarity and advocacy against all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, and this year Valentine’s Day, 14 February, falls on a Thursday.

The WCC said the campaign recognises that while the 14th February is a time to celebrate romance, ‘for too many people, 'love' comes with abuse and violence’.

To take part, people can submit reflections on scripture 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 which is often used to express love:

‘Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrong doing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.’

Nicole Ashwood, WCC Programme Executive for Just Community of Women and Men, said: ‘On the one hand, this scripture expresses love’s infinite beauty and ability to empower. But some women read lines like love “bears all things” to mean that in a marriage or relationship they have to put up with violence. So, we want to unpack this scripture, and talk about it in the context of God’s love for everyone.’

Reflections can be shared on social media using the hashtags #ThursdaysinBlack and #WCC. You can also use a special profile picture to help highlight the cause.

Reflections can also be shared with the WCC by email to be incorporated into a video and feature story for Valentine’s Day.

^{Photo 1: WCC’s special profile picture/WCC}