Do you remember the popular song entitled “What the World Needs Now is Love?”  The song’s lyrics were written in 1965 by Hal David and the music composed by Burt Bacharach. First recorded and made popular by Jackie DeShannon, the song reached number 7 on the US charts in May of that year!  The next line in the song says:
“It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”  Seems like a prophesy for our world today, so much in need of healing love.

We search for love in many areas of our lives, and all too often, the wrong areas.  Another popular song by Johnny Lee in 1979 entitled “Lookin’ for Love” has as its chorus:

I was looking for love in all the wrong places.
Looking for love in too many faces,
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I’m dreaming of…
Hopin’ to find a friend and a lover,
God bless the day I discover
Another heart, lookin’ for love.

How often have we put our trust in another person’s love only to be disappointed or hurt?  This has happened to most adults on several occasions in their lifetime. The results are a lot of broken relationships, friendships, and yes sadly, marriages.  The consequences are damaging and even devastating in the case of broken marriages, especially when children are involved.

What’s the cause of this epidemic and what’s the solution?  Saint Augustine of Hippo in the 4th Century once said: “Our hearts were made for Thee, O God, and they will never rest until they rest in Thee.”  Nothing but God can satisfy the deepest longing for love in our hearts – that’s the way God created us.  That is why the 1st of the Ten Commandments is: “You shall have no other gods before me.”  Jesus reiterated the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments when he summarized them as follows: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength; and you shall love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

We cannot love our neighbour and ourselves if we do not first love God above all else.  And we cannot love God above all else if we do not believe that we are unconditionally loved by God!  Nothing that we have ever done or will ever do (good or bad) will ever change the fact that God loves us unconditionally.  After all, He created our souls even before we were knitted together in our mother’s wombs.  He has always loved us because he conceived of us long ago.  It is sometimes very hard for people who come from broken homes or from families where little love was shown by parents toward their children, to believe and accept this truly amazing gift of God’s unconditional love.  I have great sympathy for such people because I have had the same struggle all my life.  My parents never showed love toward me or any of my siblings in an outward fashion, and they never showed love toward each other.  So not having experienced love in the home makes it difficult to believe and accept the love of a God whom we cannot see.  Yet, this is the key that can unlock such great joy and healing for us and indeed for the whole world!

Here is another way to understand it: God is infinite, and GOD IS LOVE (1 John 4:16).  Therefore, GOD IS INFINITE LOVE.  So that is why God loves each and every human being unconditionally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  All we have to do is to accept this love from God – it’s that simple!  A daily prayer like this will do: “Dear God, I know that You love me very much, but I sometimes have difficulty understanding and accepting Your love.  I open my heart at the start of this new day to You and I accept the free gift of Your love.  Love in me and through me as I go about my day.  Amen.”  That’s it – let God fill you with His love and then you will love yourself.  In turn you will have an abundance of love for others in your life.  So we might change Hal David’s lyrics slightly from:
“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.  It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”
to
“What the world needs now, is love, God’s love.  It’s the only thing that we need to fill us.”