Compelling Love: An Indomitable Force

                                                   Love so amazing, so divine
                                                   Demands my soul, my life, my all! 
                                                                - Isaac Watts

At the core of our being, there exists a fundamental need in all of us – to love or to be loved. It meets our deepest longing for belonging and bonding. The longing to attach or connect is one of the most intense yearnings of the human soul.

Extending the idea of French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, we all have a “God-shaped” and “people-shaped” vacuum in our soul.  We are internally wired for relationships and it is in the context of a community that we really discover who we are and what we are created for.

Loveless World

Psychologists tell us that children who have been deprived of secure love are at significant disadvantage in their adulthood. Early childhood attachment disruptions cause anxiety and insecurity which make it difficult for them to trust others. When parents distance emotionally from children, whether it be parental neglect or divorce, children often blame themselves for their abandonment and grow up struggling to form close and intimate relationships.

Whether you had love marriage or arranged marriage (or any combination of it – loving an arrangement or arranging a love affair), I am sure everyone will agree love is essential for marriage relationship. There are many loveless marriages all around us and many seek love outside of marriage, only to feel cheated by cheating on their mates.

Loving Others

Loving people is not easy – whether it be your spouse, children or compassion for hurting individuals. It is even harder to love the unlovable. Love does not come naturally to us. It takes lots of intentionality and thoughtfulness. It requires daily practice to become an unselfish and other-centered person. Always loving others genuinely is nearly impossible.

The secret to becoming a loving person is knowing that we are deeply loved and living loved. When our life is so filled with love, we cannot but love others. Love overflows from our lives to others around us. You and I cannot put a lid over such overflowing, generous, magnanimous love.

All of us must have a limitless reservoir of love, from where we can draw daily supply of love we need for ourselves and our marriages. No human love – that of our mate or children or even parents is so flawless or infinite. We have limited love capacity and our love leaks. We must regularly refuel love from a love station.

I find such love only in God. Knowing that God loves me as I am and without any ifs or buts is so life-transforming. God’s love is unconditional, unfailing, forever and for everyone. “God so loved the world that he send his only begotten son (Jesus) into the world…” (John 3:16). The greatest love that human race has ever seen is in the person of Jesus. He loved us so much that he was willing to lay down his life in our stead. He said, “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

We cannot give what we do not have. In order to love others, we must allow God’s love to flood our hearts. If you have not received such love, may I appeal to you take a look at the person of Jesus Christ and open your hearts for his love.

Compelling Love

In 2 Cor 5:14, Apostle Paul admitted that Love of God is the driving force in his life and ministry. The life of a man who once destroyed churches is so dramatically turned around by God’s love. The Divine love so captured his heart and transformed his life that it began to overflow as he shared God’s love to people everywhere.

Only a person who is absolutely sure that he/she is unconditionally loved no matter what, can love others unconditionally. That security of love propels us to love our mates unreservedly even when they don’t meet our expectation or are unlovable at times. When we take an honest look at the Love of God, made evident in the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it compels us to love someone else even if it is hard to love them.

The measure of your love for your mate directly depends of your sense of being loved of God. How much we are willing to forgive our mates is in proportion to our awareness how much we were forgiven by God. How intimately we get to know or care for others depends on knowing God personally and intimately.

God’s love at Calvary leaves us with no option that we love our family and serve people in the name of Jesus Christ. What compels you to love your spouse or reach out to those who are marginalized? Does love of Christ gets your spiritual adrenaline flowing?

I hope you will be compelled by the compelling love of Jesus Christ to love your dear ones as well as those not so lovable.