Looking For Love

“Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. “

Matthew 24:12 (NLT)

Do you ever wonder how people can say they love some one and then betray them? Like the husband who says he loves his wife, then beats her. Or the married couple who exchange the words “I love you,” and then are not faithful to their marriage. Or  they walk over some one to get what they want; or gossip about them and still call them a friend and say they love them.

The world has a different concept of love from those who have experienced a touch from the One who is Love. If they knew the true meaning of Love they would understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for them out of love. They would stop looking for love where love is not found. I remember when I was not living for the Lord. I was looking for something, I didn’t really know what at the time, but looking back, all I wanted was love. I looked for it in relationships, but didn’t find what I was looking for. I looked for it in many places. Bottom line, the reason my life was going downhill was, I was looking for love but had no idea what ‘love’ I was looking for.

When we look at the world, we may think there are all these different reasons why it’s so lost. Addiction, perversion, hurt, violence, religions, the list goes on and on. But when Jesus came to earth it was to die for us because of love. We are all familiar with “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).  The world is looking for love and we must show them the one who is love.

1 John 4:8 tells us, “Anyone who does not love does not know God – for God is love.” When prostitutes walk the street, they are looking for Love. When a crack addict knocks on the door of a crack house, he is looking for Love. When a man sleeps around on his wife or vise versa, they are looking for Love. When you feel alone and are hurting, you need Love. When you’re feeling empty inside, you need Love. If you feel like you always have to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you need Love. When you are not happy with the way you look and feel, that nobody cares about you, you need Love. When things just don’t seem right, you need Love.

The world needs Love, and so do you. You have a God-given desire inside you to be loved and that desire is meant to be first filled by God. (Revelation 2:4 refers to God as our first love.) You are so valuable to Him, “This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (1 John 4:10).

Jesus spoke of love growing cold. That can happen in our relationship with God. We can know the love of God but still look for it in other places. I mentioned that in Revelation 2:4 it refers to God as our first love. The verse goes like this, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” (Revelation 2:4).

Look again to Jesus and renew that love once more.

Prayer

Jesus, your love is the only pure and unconditional love in the world. Thank you that you love me and you always will. I receive your love right now.

Amen

 Study by Fraser Murdoch