What exactly is love? What does real love mean to you? A feeling of being wanted? A deep connection to someone? Enjoying unwavering support and goodwill? Commitment? A feeling of security or wholeness? Love means different things to different people, depending on how they understand it and want it expressed. Interestingly, the bible provides a definite description of real love in First John 4 verse 10. This is real love……
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” I John 4:10 NKJV
Have you suffered a heartbreak before? Have you been misrepresented, misunderstood or misinterpreted before? It hurts much more when people who are close to us hurt our feelings. Sometimes with such experiences, it becomes difficult to trust again, to hope again….
A deeply hurt heart, might struggle to love again because of lack of trust. Could it be that the person wasn’t loved right or did the person trust too much?
One day, I asked my children for a feedback on my parenting skills, I wanted to know what they thought about me. Surprisingly, my eldest daughter gave me the feedback that she didn’t feel loved. That was like a bombshell! Because from where I was standing, she demanded and received the most attention from me. Her feelings hurt mine. However, I was glad she the feedback and I adopted a different style with her.
The way God loves is the best. His kind of love is unconditional. It is not dependent on the disposition of the recipient, and has nothing to do with the feelings of the giver. Not selflish, and not compromising. It is the superior to any other kind.