- To feel cherished.
- To feel like I am important or even priority to someone.
- To know someone sees me and cares about me not based on what I do for them.
- I just want to feel loved.
These are the desires, wants, and needs I said to God on a regular basis for the first thirty-five years of my life. I know from talking with hundreds of women in my Bible Study classes and general conversations, I am not alone.
You are Designed In Love
As God created woman from the rib of Adam. It makes sense that a woman’s core needs are to feel loved, connected, and cherished or valued. However, we are not born knowing the full love of God, only the longing and drive to satisfy this ultimate core need.
Even after we become Christians, most of us are not taught what that means. We don’t understand accepting Jesus in our heart is choosing to be in a continual relationship with him that must be fostered to grown. It took me thirty-five years to realize I had to study Christ’s life in the Bible and ask him to reveal what it really means to live in his love AND let him reign in my life.
In my years of study, I began to see and feel the love of Jesus flowing in me. Through God’s word and with praise music my head understanding was transformed by my heart revelation. I KNEW Jesus loved me because he showed me I was worth dying for on the cross.
Jesus Transforms Your Understanding of Love
My understanding and definition of love changed to Christ’s loving examples in the Bible.
My old thoughts, heart, and struggling faith said:
- I was the woman at the well full of shame.
- I was Leah, feeling unloved and never enough.
- I was the Martha who focused on pleasing people to prove her value or earn love.
- I was Dinah, the tormented and forgotten daughter.
My transformed thoughts, heart, and faith now say:
- I AM Esther, who faced her fear and trusted God.
- I AM Rahab, who risked everything to do the right thing for God.
- I AM Ruth, who trusted God and took care of others no matter what it cost her.
- I AM Darla Colinet the loved and treasured daughter of God and their with Jesus!
All these women faced the ebb and flow of feeling loved and unloved in their lives. However, the ones who clung to God overcame their doubts that God and Jesus loved them. How did they do this? How can you do this, you may be asking yourself. The answer is nurturing an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ every day focused on his love.
When Jesus Christ becomes your source of pure unconditional love, the way others choose to love you doesn’t devastate you. Planting your heart and mind on Christ’s love foundation allows you to let his love flow through you and out to others in the most unlikely circumstances. Jesus doesn’t ask you to allow others to hurt or abuse you. He showed you how to live in pure love and to love others just as Christ loves you every minute of every day!
Your Life Is Created and Guided by Love
The two greatest commandments Jesus quotes deal with love in Mark 12:30-31 NIV. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
If you are looking for love in all the wrong places and still feeling love-starved, why not look to Jesus through a personal relationship. The only way to change the love in your life is to CHANGE what you have been doing. Transformational changes take place in the renewing your mind and heart through Christ Jesus. These changes empower you to intentionally choose your thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions to mirror his.
You are Loved
You are made from God’s love. Your sins were paid for by Jesus on the cross. His sacrifice makes it possible for you to have a personal relationship with him and have direct access to God. You have the promise of eternal love as you live with them forever in heaven.
All the love you desire, want, and need are available to you through Christ Jesus living in you! You alone have the power to choose to live in his fullness of love every day. It is the only pure unfailing love I have experienced in my life.
As you live in his love, you will be amazed at the people he places in your life’s journey who also have his love overflowing in them. You will also have people who need to feel and see Christ’s his love and grace flowing through you on them. Feeling Christ’s love is their proof and hope that they can also feel loved, cherished, and more than enough just as they are.
Isn’t it time for you to stop experiencing moments of Christ’s love but instead, live in it? Begin by committing to listening to ONLY Christian worship music for 90 days. Buy or borrow a study Bible and study several verses or section every day on love. Write down anything that comes to your mind or heart in a journal. If you need to start with three days a week, then do it. The important thing for building your relationship with Jesus is that you make a commitment and stick to it!
You can never erase, escape, or sever the love of Jesus Christ for you!
If you need more inspiration, please connect with me on Facebook or sign up for a free coaching session at www.livingandlovingfearlessly.com.
