I had to sit down and ask myself, do I really know what love is? Or am I fooling myself? Turns out, for my whole life I have indeed fooled myself. And it is not necessarily my own fault. In this day and age I think we’re all taught to think of love as something you need to hopelessly try and earn. Or we’re taught that love is quite conditional. Maybe even told that it is just a feeling or it’s limited to romantic relationships. And that my friend, makes love a painful and scary thing.

It took me a few heartbreaks and some well needed lessons of humbleness for me to actually sit down and ask God, what is love and am I enough just the way I am? Still to this very day though, I must admit, I am struggling with insecurities when it comes to this topic. And it’s nothing to be ashamed of, if you too are going through a season similar to mine. In fact I think it’s very necessary for us so we can be totally vulnerable when we come to God.

I think for myself, I’ve been looking for love in the wrong places for far too long. When I don’t know what love is, naturally I look for any type of affection, attention and acceptance. And usually from people that cannot give these things from a healthy place. And when these people fail to give me these things, I feel unworthy of love, useless, lonely and as if I am not enough. And this is a very exhausting way to live, chasing something that was already given to me freely… it has always been mine, from the very first day. But did I accept it? Did I accept the fact that I have always been accepted by the Creator Himself? Nope.. Because it didn’t look the way I thought I wanted it to, it didn’t come from the people I thought it should have. And it didn’t feel the way I thought it needed to feel.

So what is love? Yes, it is feelings of love and affection, absolutely. But the emotions we feel, they’re the cherry on top. Not the whole dish. If we look at the Bible and what it says about love we quickly learn that emotions come and go, they do not last. But love is everlasting. So it has to be so much more. Love is choosing someone else’s needs before our own. It’s choosing someone over and over. Love is forgiving and it does not remember wrongs done against it, it’s living in the moment and appreciating every second given to us. It’s patience and understanding. It’s not selfishly fulfilling our own desires and lust. But putting others before us, willingness to be vulnerable and open. Love is not blindly agreeing with everything. Love should be able to discipline and be disciplined. Love is full commitment and respect for others. And Love is not love nor is Love God. But God is Love. And He is slow to anger, compassionate, forgiving, patient and kind. And therefore we should be an example of Him. We were designed to love. Gal. 6:10, 1 Cor. 13:2-7, 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:19, 2 John 1:6.

It is beautiful how much more love is than we think, and we should hold it in a higher place than we do. But it’s hard because in this world we have someone fighting against everything that’s beautiful and worthy of praise. This someone is the reason we have so many broken people and broken homes, the same reason why we are so quick to “cancel” someone if they don’t live up to our expectations or agree with us at all times. This person will do anything and everything in his power to steal, kill and destroy anything that unites us and makes us godly. And he will lie to us about love, because he knows how important it is and how holy it was meant to be. He comes after families, friends, work places… any relationship you have is going to be in danger. That’s why we need to realize that love takes so much work, it is not just happy days. It’s also choosing to stay when the sun does not shine. We have to be willing to put God in the first place, because only then are we able to love others and ourselves with a love that is healthy and true. There’s no real love outside of God. There cannot be, because anything that is of this world is outside of the truth and outside of God’s character.

So I want to pray today, for me and for all of you. That we would be strong and courageous and willing to be vulnerable. That we would forgive anyone who did something against us, and that we would let go of that heavy weight. I also pray that God would reveal His everlasting, unconditional and kind love that He has for you, that you would see yourself through His eyes (and He only sees you as beautiful, wonderful and more than enough). I pray that your life would be filled with love that you get to shine on everyone around you, that when they look at you, they see God. And lastly, Father, I pray that every broken heart would be healed today, they would be made completely new. And that we as your children, would love unconditionally and fearlessly. In Your beautiful name, I pray. Amen!!

Aaaand hello, dear reader… I am so grateful for your support. I am so happy I get to share my journey with you lovelies!! And I hope you enjoyed todays message. If so, please give your girl a like and subscribe. Also if you want to connect with me on my social media, feel free to do so! And please, if you ever have prayer requests, stories to share or tips of sustainability, do share it with me. I’m here for you the same you’re here for me. Love, Ella ❤