Did you Know? 

Believers in Christ in the early church were encouraged to greet each other with a kiss of love, a holy kiss!

Greet one another with a holy kiss

— 2 Corinthians 13:12

See also: Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, 1 Peter 5:14

In the old testament Moses greeted his brother Aaron with a kiss (Exodus 4:27), and his father-in-law with a kiss (Exodus 18:7).

A Holy Kiss is one which is sacred—physically pure and morally blameless. This was a common custom in most nations. People would kiss each other at meeting or parting to display their love, sincere affection, and friendship for each other.

The kiss is called “holy” to distinguish it from a sexual one and from a hypocritical and deceitful one, such as Joab gave to Amasa (2 Samuel 20:9) or such as Judas gave to Jesus when he cried, “Hail Rabbi,” and betrayed Him into the hands of His enemies (Matthew 26:49).

In the sexualised world and culture we now live in, it is impossible to pinpoint from scripture whether or not the holy kiss is a tradition we should carry on today.

Nonetheless, the important thing is that our greetings to one another spring from real love and friendship, are characterized by sincerity, and represent true Christian fellowship.

It’s valentines, the season of “love”, why not demonstrate yours through the believer’s greeting?

Grace & Peace!