Longing to be Loved

 Sometimes it feels like this world is a powder keg about to blow. People are so angry. Much of it stems from the breakdown in the family unit. Children routinely grow up in split homes. They learn to cope and make the best of it, but there is collateral damage. Little boys without fathers grow up angry. They grow up to fight to prove their worth and to earn respect. They hide their insecurities and fears behind the masks of anger and toughness. I know because I grew up as one of those young men. 

Little girls who do not have their fathers grow up longing for love. They often seek such love in boyfriends and husbands. Many times they are poor judges of character and hook up with people who are abusive. Longing to be loved they stay in the cycle of violence. 

Everybody longs to be loved by someone. Many are alone. It appears nobody cares for them. They live in isolation. They live secluded in a society where everyone is connected except them. Many try to fill this void with fantasies which is a cheap substitute for substantial relationships. 

Nobody loves like Jesus. Nobody cares like He does. His love is perfect. It is enduring and eternal. Truth is sometimes we need Jesus to love us with skin on. What I mean is that we need Jesus to love us through another person. Not necessarily a romantic relationship. A friendship. A brother or sister in Christ. Somebody who can be the heart, hands, feet, and speak the words of love of Jesus. 

Jesus loves the deplorables. He loves the outcasts. He loves the impoverished as well as the down and out. He also loves the elite and those who move in powerful circles of influence. He loves the rich and famous and the upwardly  successful. Jesus loves people. All kinds of people.  He loves sinners and prodigals. 

Our world could use more of His love. Instead of using people to get ahead in climbing the corporate ladder, what if the people of God loved people right where they are. What if we spoke the truth in love. What if we refused to judge and cast stones but rather caringly walked with people to Jesus and His love. 

Everybody longs to be loved. I do. You do. So do those around us. That means the little boy and girl in the hood surrounded by gang violence and immorality. So does the farm boy and girl growing up far out in the country. So do the immigrants crossing into our country fearfully, some desperate for a better life for them and their families. Jesus even loves those who come with more sinister intentions. Jesus loves the hillbilly in the backwoods as well as the Hollywood A listers. 

I am beyond grateful Jesus made His love known and available to me. His loved changed my life. I was on a destructive path. He changed the whole trajectory of my life with the revelation of His love and grace. It makes me want to extend that to others. I hope it does you too. Everybody longs to be loved.