Godly Love

Today my heart is really going out to the broken-hearted. So many of us are searching for love - we want to experience that magical love with someone else that we see in movies and read about in books. Many in relationships get frustrated when things don't turn out the way they'd hoped it would, perhaps in the perfect way that many books and movies perceive love to be. Instead of looking at love from a worldly perspective, let's look at what the Word of God tells us:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

If all we really need is love, shouldn't love come down to something more than self-gain, temporary butterflies, and attraction? In our relationships, we should constantly be instilling the bolded characteristics in our love. I've been told that we all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts that only He can fill. God's love never fails. One of the reasons there are so many broken hearts due to failed relationships is that too many try to fill God's place in their heart with someone else first. Girls, God wants to so captivate your heart before you open it to any man.  

"A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him in order to find her." 

Before you open your heart to anyone, you must first find your worth, fulfillment, confidence, and strength in God alone. He will teach you about Godly love [what it is, how to live it out] - so much deeper than anything any movie or book could ever portray. Do not be angry or frustrated with God over your current relationship status, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28) - He knows what's best for you and your life. Even if you don't understand his reasoning at the moment, just trust Him and be patient until you can see the bigger picture. In Isaiah 55:8-9, God tells us “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." He is always faithful. Once you find that only He can fulfill your heart's greatest desires and longings for love, only then will you be able to truly love another human - with Godly love.

"Arms Wide Open" - Misty Edwards