There is love {day 19}

Do you ever feel unloved? I think I spent most of my adolescence and pre-adulthood searching for love. And in the search so many mistakes were made, decisions made in a quest to feel known.

In reality nothing the world is offering will bring soul satisfying unquenchable love.

Only Jesus can fill that spot.

No boy, no physical relationship, no partnership, no marriage, no child, no job, no position or status, no life change or acceptance of self, no gifts, no monetary success.

Those things bring momentary contentment. Momentary. I know because I've experienced most of them in my quest to be known and loved. 

Unlike what is heard amongst us, money cannot buy love. And love isn't just the happy, snuggly, consumer hearts and arrows.

Love is entering into the ugly places. Knowing that the person sees the inner yuck that most never see. I've got hidden secrets that most don't know but there's someone who does. And it took me awhile to be okay that He sees every yucky thing. 

And He still loves me. Abiding allows you to rest in the perfect, all encompassing love of the Savior.

There's nothing that turns Him off. No action, thought, or spoken thing will make Him shrink away.

His love covers us. It's in us. It flows through us. It's our safe place. We can abide there because nothing can take it away.

When things don't go our way or we find ourselves at odds with what seems should be right we need to remember what His love looks like.

It's not dependent on what we do or how we act. It's never withheld or withdrawn.

It's perfect.

It's not dependent on what we do or who we are. 

He is good all the time so His love is perfectly good.

He is never coercive and never withholds.

It's overflowing. He loves everyone and everything. And He loves those who He has chosen. 

His love builds character. It's not a get what you want when you want it kind of love.

It's a get what you need kind of love.

And it never goes away.