The Pursuit of Love Podcast

Although we have the ability to love family, pets, etc., our focus is limited to romantic and agape love.

Valentine’s Day is a well-loved holiday, especially for the two people in love with each other. But there is the other side of the coin, those without romantic love who hate the holiday. Still, what is most interesting is the financial fact check of this holiday. “And the retail industry is looking forward to the anticipated amount of, Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach $23.9 billion this year,” https://nrf.com/topics/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/valentines-day#). According to Forbes, “Retailers may try to make it seem that holiday shopping is of make-or-break importance, but it’s really not.” So, the word from the experts is that our $23.9 billion [spent for love] means absolutely nothing to the retail industry.

Many people place an extremely high value on the gifts of tangible items that represent love. While others are content with the wholeness that love provides. Is the pursuit of love a driving force? “We spend our lives craving it, searching for it, and talking about it. Its meaning is felt more than it is clearly expressed. It’s called the greatest virtue. It’s love.” https://www.southuniversity.edu/news-and-blogs/2016/08/the-psychology-behind-love-and-romance-70700.

We are driven to seek love because love is spiritual. Love permeates our entire hearts, souls, and minds. Why? Because God is love! “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8 ESV). Human beings desire love because we were created from love by Love. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… (Genesis 1:26 NKJV). God places the utmost importance on love, even explaining why our pursuit of love is desperate. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).

Now that we have the origin and foundation of love, we understand why God made humanity from love. Yes, our Heavenly Father’s original plan is for us to be loved by one another.

On the sixth day of Creation, after making Adam: “Now the LORD God said, ‘It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.'” (Genesis 2:18, Amplified Bible).

Enter sin that altered God’s original plan. We know that evil will never have the power to abolish God’s, perfect love. Even so, many have compromised God’s standards to avoid depression or feelings of emptiness by seeking unholy unions or staying in toxic relationships just to be loved. Satan has repackaged love into an unhealthy package that glitters like diamonds, presenting it as alternative lifestyles–based on sexual orientation, believers with unbelievers, financial arrangements, cohabitation, abusive marriages, etc.

God is still in control! “The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness, I have drawn you. ‘” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Human Love: Whether you are in love or not in love with another human being, everyone has the opportunity and the ability to be in a love relationship.

Divine Love: The Trinity–God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV).

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV).

Breaking free from a depressive state of hopelessness because one is not in a romantic love relationship requires knowing and loving God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And for those who are blessed to have a beautiful, loving, and godly relationship or marriage, God still requires you to love and seek Him first. Our love and loyalty for God supersede all other love relationships.

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'” (Matthew 22:37).

We must love God with the confidence that He values us. When we view ourselves as worthy of God’s agape love, we should never possess a downcast soul. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.” (Psalm 42:5 BSB)

Our spiritual pursuit of love is defined by God. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV). The only way to have a deep love relationship with God is to study the Scriptures and pray without ceasing. Our love for God must be a relentless pursuit. Who else can use the word “everlasting?” We are promised everlasting love and everlasting [eternal] life when we have a loving and faithful relationship with the Trinity.

The Apostle Paul, who suffered greatly for His love relationship with Jesus Christ, asks and answers his question:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

Prayer: God, we pray for the desire and the strength to pursue our love relationship with you at all costs. We love You, and we thank you for Your everlasting love. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. © 2022 Sonya Johnson, Faithful Fishers, and Woman, You Are Loved by God Ministries