We have one thing in common, that is, the innate need to belong. That’s because we were created in the image of Love, who pursues us for intimate fellowship with him. Once we grow in his love, we understand one thing: Love is selfless, sacrificial, and giving.
However, we spend most of our time seeking society’s definition of love, which is self-centered. Its parameters says, your needs come first, and you should hoard as much as you can, even at the expense of others.
Hence, the reason you enter relationships with wrong motives and misguided expectations. You shortly learn that one’s looks, financial and social status disappoints. This erodes your self-esteem; question if love exist, and for some, creates unnecessary disdain for men.
If you long for belonging, you need to know what true love is, so you can embrace its’ totality, and ultimately experience it in all your relationships.
After all, how can you find something you don’t recognize?
In my own quest to define love, it took years to realize love was not about feelings, receiving gifts, and listening to sweet nothings. Love encompasses several factors that livens the human soul, and your Creator has the answer in 1 Corinthians 13 (NLT).
So, what is love?
(vv. 4-7) “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
The definition of love above is not only your measuring stick for selflessness and your willingness to improve on these areas, but a gauge for potential suitors.
Now, you might have a list of the incredible things you’ve done in the name of “love”, but these too, don’t measure, nor do they reciprocate love.
Don’t believe me?
(vv. 1-3) “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
I pray this revelation will steer your heart to a better version of yourself, so you can someday encounter and rest in true love.
What are your thoughts?