"So where does this compelling need take us? We are seeking a love that fills our heart with joy and transforms us in the process." Kathy Spampinato

Today, I want to talk about love. Feeling loved is a human necessity, like having food, water, and air. Although we might physically survive, we cannot thrive without it. Lack of love will twist our heart, our mind, and our sense of self. Our character, mental health, and direction in life will be shaped by how we have been loved. That is, how successfully we have received it, and what we had to do to feel cared for. Unfortunately, we need only to look at the lives of children who have suffered abandonment, neglect, and abuse to realize the extreme need we have for a nurturing love as we grow. When we feel the lack, will seek some form of love to fill the gap. We’ve all heard the phrase about “looking for love in all the wrong places.” We even turn to unhealthy, manipulative and abusive relationships if we think we will receive the love we seek. Unconsciously, we will tolerate the intolerable if we think we are being cared for.

So where does this compelling need take us? We are seeking a love that fills our heart with joy and transforms us in the process. The hurt we have experienced in our life might make us cautious, reluctant to trust, and doubtful, but God’s love transforms. I would like to inspire you to trust God with your heart and your heartache. His Word talks about the kind of love God offers us freely. The true love we seek, only comes from God. God is love. We can grow to reflect that love to others, and receive that love from others, if we first receive the love of God, expressed through His Son, Jesus. God’s love heals every wound and helps us blossom as we learn to trust Him.

1 John 4:9-11 ESV “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

We ought to love one another, but we’re not good at it! We stumble and fail. We are so compelled by our own need that we often hurt others and blame them for our difficulty. Yet, God promises that He will give us a heart of flesh to replace our heart of stone. Let’s look at some of the characteristics of God’s love. We can pursue more of God to grow in that direction, and have more of His love to share.

1 Corinthians 13:1,4-8a “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

This love of God is what we seek. Only in finding him, do we receive true love and become capable of sharing His love with others. All our relationships bloom with an atmosphere of grace and love when God’s love overflows from our hearts. We will increase our ability to communicate in love. God’s word encourages us to receive God’s love, so we are able to reflect it to others.

1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

You can have a heart filled and overflowing with a love that transforms, if your source is the love of God. Turn to Him today, and let God’s love heal you and fill your heart, to overflowing.