Kristen Henderlong

Love.  There’s so many ways to love- to receive it, to give it.  There are love languages, brotherly love, romantic love, pet love, love of a parent, love of a grandparent.  But wouldn’t you say the spirit of it all is the same?  It all comes down to sacrifice… putting that person above yourself, right?  It means opening yourself up to another for connection.

It’s no news that love has been rudely perverted and twisted.  It’s been falsely portrayed and highly misunderstood by all of us.  Different cultures make it about something else.  One society tells us “love” is about “happiness” and feeling complete.  Some people think it’s just about finding ‘chemistry’ or a sex partner. Then in many other cultures love is defined as more of an act of obedience and discipline… demand of respect.

Despite all of these perversions, people continue to pursue what they believe love is.  The majority of us want to experience finding a person who means everything to us.  It’s only natural, you cannot deny.  The mystery and thrill of the magical feeling it can give is undeniable.  

We say we want “happiness.”  But is happiness even fulfilling?  Don’t we want fulfillment?  Happiness is an emotion.  It’s fleeting and shallow.  It rises and falls on feelings.  I don’t know about you, but I want something more.  I want depth.  I want something genuine, unshakable and constant.  Something that cannot be taken away; something that cannot be influenced or tainted by the world or my circumstances; Something that doesn’t rise and fall on how I am feeling.

Love is not an emotion.  I can understand why we mistake it for an emotion because we can feel love.  But love is not tainted by whether or not you feel it.  Love remains.  You can say, “I am happy.”  But you wouldn’t say, “I am love.”  That doesn’t make sense.  You can feel love, but it doesn’t end there.  It’s so much more than that.

One’s very existence as a human is a product of what God designed as love; this love is complete unity—oneness.  Two people becoming one, creating someone to love- a child.  Unfortunately we have all seen this perverted as well.  It’s been abused and taken for granted time and time again.  Nevertheless, the blueprints are still there—the intention of God’s heart is still there.

In the Bible, the book of 1 John tells us, “God is love (1 John 4:16).”  Everything about Him is for love.  His desire for us is love.  His plan for us is love.  His constant, never wavering reality is “I love you.”  1 John goes on to say:

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us (1 John 4:9-12).

I started this blog because I believe God has instilled a fire in me to share the hope of His love.  I want others to know they are loved no matter what.  Whether you’re the most well-behaved and moral individual or the most messed up and broken… there’s nothing you can do or undo to become more worthy of God’s love.  It simply already exists because it’s His very essence and He created you.  He created us for love; for relationship.  

And Jesus already sealed the deal when he said “It is finished” (John 19:30).

However, the only way to be transformed, healed, renewed and FREE is by receiving that love, which is a process.  It’s a daily, intentional decision.. even moment by moment.  For example: sometimes it requires me to let go of my own perception of myself and what I think I deserve.  At the end of the day it’s not about me or what I think… it’s about Him and who He is and what he has ALREADY done for me.  He defines me, nothing else.

We forget.  I forget.  So I am here to remind you and myself: You Are Loved.  Receive it.  Let it heal you.  Let it give you peace and hope.

Stay tuned for more in depth steps to receive God’s love intentionally every day.

Remember: You are Loved.

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast.  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.  Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).