Love me…Love me not

Have you ever picked petals from a flower and did the “love me-love me not” silly ritual? Though that is a silly game played as children it is a reflection of an actual question we carry in our hearts that requires serious attention. I am convinced that in many ways this question governs our life more than any other influence. Some may think that as long as you love yourself you are good but that is not true, at least not for humans. If you were an insect, born of a larvae from under a leaf somewhere the self-love argument might have some credence. As humans, we need love from others. We need tender love and care from the moment we are born and from then on. It is unfortunate that many of us have had beginnings not that much different from insects. Born with no one present to really care for our hearts properly. The difference is the insect just goes about its life span of 10 days or less without ever thinking about if it was ever loved, on the other hand humans have hearts that crave love daily for their entire life span of 25,000 plus days or more. If our human hearts have been deprived of love at any point, it has left a wound that needs healing. Becoming callous to the need to be loved only changes the appearance of things on the outside however there is no real peace or rest on the inside. The callous heart is consumed with seeking supplements to satisfy the deficiency created by the lack of real love. Some of the common supplements sought are sex, wealth, fame, status, and control. Each of those things or even a combination of them are insufficient because they are temporary and also empty if not accompanied by real love.

The love we need and the love we truly crave comes from the Heavenly Father and He truly loves us with an everlasting love. We just have to learn to recognize, receive, and appreciate the abundant love that flows from God as a mighty river of life. Sometimes it is just a matter of focus and perspective that keeps us from seeing the love that is around us. Those that have hated us and mistreated us did so because they were bankrupt of love themselves. Those who have loved us have done so out of the wealth of love deposited in their hearts from God. Instead of remembering the many that have mistreated us we need focus on those who have reached out to us to share their wealth of love. Sometimes we have missed it because our focus has been on the false supplements promoted in a world filled with people who have broken hearts.

If we could just stop for a moment and tell the little child in us that it is well, and we did not deserve to have our hearts neglected by those who were responsible to love us. Sometimes we come from generations of the brokenhearted and the cycle is just sadly perpetuated, but it can end today. If we will release those indebted to us because they were poor in the first place and turn the focus of our heart toward God who is reaching out us constantly through all the things He has created for us to enjoy. There are often people who truly love us that we don’t appreciate and take for granted (I have at least two phone calls I need to return as I write this.) There are children we have been giving to love that have hearts asking the same questions as our own. These are in addition to the beauty that God has placed around us to remind us of His love like the sunrises and sunsets, the birds singing in the morning, the flowers and the lush trees that provide shade from the heat. You never have to question the Father’s love for you. Imagine yourself in a field of flowers, acres wide. Each petal on each flower is an affirmation that He loves you, He loves you, He loves you, He loves you, He loves you……