Finding Love
It’s the month of February, a season when shops leave singles and couples feeling “loveless” or “pressured”. You were perfectly fine, then come all these ads talking of romance that make you feel inadequate.
Don’t give in to these marketing ploys. Your value as a human being doesn’t depend on romance, flowers, or chocolates. It doesn’t depend on having a Valentine’s date or the lack of it. The month of March will come, and the shops will find something else to sell to you.
In a consumerist society, we are taught to “consume” love. As if love were a fragrance to be worn, an outfit to buy, a date to have. We go out on February 14 with 10 million other couples, clogging streets and restaurants, eating overpriced food, and thinking this is romance.
But real love is not formula or a mantra. Experiencing genuine love begins with this revelation:
Someone already loves you! You already are ‘in a relationship’.
If God had a Facebook page, his status would be ‘in a relationship’. With you.
Remember how excited your friend was, when she changed her Facebook status to ‘In a relationship’? Well guess, what? You are in a relationship, too!
Do you know the benefit that Christians have? Christians are never loveless, because someone already loves them!
Jesus gave you:
*An Unbelievable, “Unleavable” Love
God finds you loveable, even at your worst. Try being nasty or unkind to your family or friends, and they will disconnect from you.
Romantic love is often conditional. It’s an ‘I will love you “IF” you do this for me’. But God’s love is unconditional. It’s an ‘I love you IN SPITE OF all you’ve done to Me’.
The unusual thing about God’s love is that it’s a love that never gives up on you. It’s a love that stayed, even to the point of death.
The LORD himself goes before you, and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8
*A “Saving Love” of a Savior
Some people marry a partner, thinking they can change them after marriage. Some people think they can even change themselves. I tell them, GOOD LUCK! Only the love of a Savior can transform a person from the inside out.
*The Unconditional Love of a Father
Often people look for romantic love, but what their hearts are really hungering for is the love and approval of a father. Someone to give us our real identity, security, and a sense of belonging. We are grownup children looking for the approval we never fully received because of our broken world.
God’s love will make you whole and healthy. It’s different from “alphabet love” (sexual encounters that leave you with STD or HIV, or leave you muttering about that SOB…).
It’s the love displayed by the Father when the prodigal son returned. It’s the love the Father gave when He sent Jesus to rescue us.
The Real Question
I guess the real question this February is not, ‘Does anyone love me?’
The real question is, ‘How am I responding to God’s love?’
Am I even aware of it? Or have I taken it for granted?
This February, I pray your eyes will be opened to see what true love is, so you won’t fall for anything less than that. May God also give you real, satisfying relationships that mutually enrich your lives, and make you stronger in your walk with the Lord.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11
My Comments Policy
While my site offers visitors the ability to converse, I have a few ground rules so that our conversations will remain civil and courteous.
1. You must register in order to leave a comment. I don’t entertain pseudo, anonymous or bogus individuals. This site is my home (it has a Home Page, get it). I don’t let strangers who don’t introduce themselves into my home.
2. I love questions. I love them because a lot of times they are similar to someone else’s questions and can even trigger other questions from others. Questions also keep us all sharp. This is also why I respond to them as best as I can and at the soonest possible time. I believe that group answering benefits more people than private email exchanges.
3. We don’t have to agree. Debates are welcome. However, whether it is with me or any other visitors of my site, my rule is this: disagree if you must but keep things civil. That’s just how I run my home, and you are a visitor here. No shouting; I have seen it done in writing. No cursing and no insulting.
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In short, my goal is to host interesting conversations with caring, honest, and respectful people. I believe this clear and simple comments policy will facilitate this.
