First of all, we are all looking for love and acceptance. Usually this means we are looking for a significant other, but other times we just want to find this love from family or friends. There is a definite need in the human heart for love and just knowing that people will look at every part of us and see that we are good. Yet the problem with human love is that it can often be conditional. If you don't fulfill whatever goal your parents have for you, then you may find your parents don't love you as much. If you don't have sex with your boyfriend, he might leave you. If you aren't the size 6 you were when you were 23, your husband might be tempted to cheat on you. Human love fails. Yet Romans 5:28 says that "God proves His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Before we even loved God, when we were turned against Him, He loved us! Romans 8:38-39 goes on to say that "nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ our Lord!" God will love us no matter what we do or do not do.
I've also noticed that the more time I spend with my boyfriend, the more I want to know him. The more I know him, the harder it is to say goodnight. I am always trying to get to know Andy..I want to know every little thing about him. I become closer to him by texting him often, calling him on the phone every morning, and spending every time I can with him. This need for intimacy reflects our need to know our Maker, yet we will only know God if we seek Him with all of our heart. "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek with all of your heart," Jeremiah 29:13 tells us. If you don't know God, maybe you really aren't looking.
What is love without sacrifice? Every day Andy gives and gives and gives for our relationship, and I try to give right back everything he has given me. Yet as humans, we are selfish from the start. Why do you think one of the first words of babies is "Mine!"? I feel like it's impossible with our selfish nature to give 100% of ourselves to the people we love. Yet the sacrifice of Christ surpasses all. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this; that he should lay down his life for his friends." Jesus paid it ALL for us, the condemned, the ones who deserved the judgement of God on us, with His life.
When human love reveals a greater love of God, what can we do? Seeing the love of God shows me that I am defined by that unfailing love alone, and no one else's love will define who I am. It also helps me show that love to other people, because God loves them just as much as He loves me.
But most of all, God's love is the only love that I need.
