Whether we admit it openly or not, we all want to be loved. We want to be accepted for who we are and we want to be significant – a sense of feeling that our lives matter. In an age where the norm is to try to talk, look and act tough and independent (which has its merits, don’t get me wrong), even the most heartless dictators and the most brutal criminals want at least someone, somewhere to love them for real.
Yet, though the need for love is common to all and is a basic human desire, it would seem that true love is as tough to find in our world as it’s ever been. For some bizarre reason, we not only withhold love from others but, when we do decide we want to give it, we make it extremely difficult. By the looks of things, 21st century love needs to be earned, and boy is it a price we have to pay! How many times do we hear of a guy needing to jump through endless hoops – buying this and giving that – to even get a second look from a girl he’s into? Even after he’s done every possible thing that’s doable, he has no guarantees that she was never just using him to get ahead. Or the girl who gives heart, soul, mind and body to ‘prove’ to the guy making demands on her that she’ll do anything to be with him? Then, after she’s done all that, she realizes she’s been nothing more than a name, no… a number, in a little black book of conquests.
Love, rather than being a free gift, has become a commodity to be bought and sold.
Hearing all this, one might be tempted to give up and pull out from the whole thing altogether. Thankfully, there is still a glimmer of hope in all the madness. It’s still possible to be loved unconditionally in the midst of a culture that has cheapened love and turned it into something to be slaved for. This kind of love comes from God and His only requirement is that we believe that it exists.
Stop wasting your life toiling to earn love. Anyone who truly loves you will not make you suffer for it. Love, in its purest form, is a gift and it is freely given. It shouldn’t be based on performance or effort but simply on wanting the best for the other. Am I saying we shouldn’t put effort into relationships? No. Am I saying that we should just pour everything out to everyone willy-nilly? No, I’m not saying that either. What I am saying though is that, if our starting point is to know the pure and giving nature of the love we receive from God, we will be able to live that out and model it in a healthy way in our relationships with others.
If you are interested in discovering a relationship of love with God, please click on the banner below and check out the video we’ve prepared, in which we talk about it. Even if you have reservations about this post and want to have your say, we’d love to hear from you.
You are loved.