I think the rap group Whodini said it best, “You’re lucky just to have just One Love.” Everybody looks for it and some will do anything for it because everyone wants love. To most, having been in love at least once is better than never having love at all, but that’s not so with God.
God loves us! Only His immeasurable love matters, and no one else’s. He is that One Love that we all look for because not only is He the Father of Agape love, but His love covers, it heals, it sets free, it delivers. We are lucky to have His love.
A lot of us, especially when we have been hurt and are brokenhearted, look for love in the wrong places. We look to be fulfilled in a way that only God can and instead of running to Him to fill us up with His love, we run to sex, drugs, alcohol, and other addictions including eating and shopping. To not know his love is tragic because when we turn to others things to mask our need for true love, those things become detrimental to our wellbeing.
When I was teenager, I was very awkward looking and though I had friends, I always felt unloved. Part of it stemmed from my life at home and the chaos that surrounded me including growing up with an alcoholic father and being molested at a young age by a family member. I didn’t quite understand what love was but I knew it was something I needed therefore I sought after it through the attention of boys. I learned quickly what turned boys on and so my pants got a little tighter, my shirts more low cut, and I made some really horrible choices in hairstyles, all to attract their attention. Somehow I equated their advances to love, and I fell in a pit of promiscuity. To numb the hurt from rejection, I began to drink and do other things which made me become angrier with my dad because I did not feel like he loved me like a father should love his daughter. All I wanted was to be loved.
This vicious cycle followed me for years and I had endured many breakups as well as heartaches. I was tired of looking for love and ready to throw in the towel. Nothing was easing my pain of feeling unloved and rejected so there were times when I wanted to check out and end it all.
I began remembering something that I would often see or hear at weddings, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”(NIV) That’s the type of love I wanted and as I began to reflect over my life I realized that the only one that supplied me with that kind of love was, God.
His love is the only one love that I need. God’s love is patient with me even when I was running to the wrong things. His love is kind to me though there were times I was being mean to myself and others because of my circumstances. God does not envy me but instead marvels at the child He created. There is no arrogance or boasting in God’s love because it is all the same for His children. God’s love is not a proud love or self-centered but God’s love is all encompassing and inclusive. His love does not dishonor for God is not a respecter of persons and He has that equal equality type of love. God gave His only begotten Son for us so I know His love is not self-seeking. You talk about a love not easily angered, that’s God’s love because he loves us inspire of our mess ups. When I think of my past sins and the punishment He could have dealt me, all I can do is thank Him. Hebrews 8:12tells us that He is merciful toward our wrongs and He will no longer remember them. God avenges the evil on our behalf and He rejoices when we walk in the truth of His Word because it frees us.
God is everything that scripture says love is, and He is so much more. He is the One Love I desire. He is the love that protects me, and the one I can trust. His hope for me is to give me an expected end and His love never fails. It endures and perseveres through all space and time. I am lucky just to have just One Love in the Father, my God.
Meet the Contributor
Deborah Woolard is a single mother of three from Raleigh, NC and she currently resides in Charlotte, NC. She is an ordained & licensed minister and she serves as the Youth Director at R5 Church. Her love for writing, especially poetry is one of the many ways God allows her to use her gifts for His glory. Her poetry can be viewed at https://m.facebook.com/gracefullydsignedbydeborah/.