Looking for Love

 Country Western singer Johnny Lee had a big called "Looking for Love." Part of the chorus went like this, "Looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces." 

That thought is bouncing around in my mind. I think of the all the desperate men and women looking for love. They give themselves to vile disgusting behaviors in a vain attempt to secure love. What happens more often is shame, condemnation, and a broken heart. 

These men and women are on the prowl to meet someone. They go from nightclub to nightclub and bar to bar hoping to find love. In exchange for a drink and a dance they share a night of sex with lust and not love. The one-night stand fades into days of regrets. The cycle repeats itself because the world shouts that is the way to find love. 

I wish people could pull up to the filling station of Jesus and tap into the pump of His love. I wish they could feel the validation of His love that makes one fit to receive and give love to others. Love is more of a willful decision than a gushy emotion. Love is more than diamond rings, dozens of roses, and chocolate candy. Love is serving. Love is self-sacrificing. Love is patient. Love is devotion. Love is commitment. Love is enduring. 

My heart breaks to consider people who look for love in all the wrong places. They get impatient. They convince themselves that if they just found someone, they would be happy. They compromise convictions and settle for second best rather than waiting on God's best. The courts decry this myth. No person has the power to completely fulfill you. That is a role reserved completely for Jesus. Until people experience that love, they will place unrealistic expectations on partners that can never be met. Some people drift from relationship to relationship in this same destructive cycle. It is pathetically tragic. 

If you are looking for love, let me advise you to look to Jesus first. Fill up with His love. Find your identity in Him. Get your validation from Him. He is not selfish. He is not abusive. His love is not conditional. His love endures. In fact, it is everlasting. He does not use you and leave you. He is all the love any will ever need. 

Jesus did not say, "I have come to give life more abundantly only to those in a relationship." A person can be single and learn to live contentedly. They can also learn to live patiently in faith waiting on God to bring a soulmate into their lives. He knows the address of those looking for love. They do not have to go to a nightclub, bar, or party in compromise looking for love. They can pray in faith. They can patiently serve others while waiting and not fixate on finding someone. They can continually fill up on God's agape love. 

Jesus is a friend of the lonely heart. He is a constant companion for the rejected and cast aside. He is an always on time available friend. He is a loving Lord. If you are looking for love, you need to look no further than to Jesus. He is all the love a person could ever hope for and more.