*grinz*

no this is not a song this time, this is me. i don’t normally like to post my thoughts online for everyone to read, but i feel that some stuff just can’t be left unspoken. sigh, i don’t really know where to begin, but here goes, lar. ahem ahem… LOVE. the 4 letter ‘l’ word. a simple but complicated word. we’re all looking for love, aren’t we? LOVE is the one thing we can’t do without. (just admit it.) we were all created to love and to be loved. LOVE is the reason why we exist, LOVE is the only thing really worth living for. a life without LOVE is no life at all. a life without LOVE is devoid of all the other wonderful things like joy, peace, hope, etc.

today, LOVE has been reduced to a mere word, one that has such superficial meanings attached to it. when you tell someone you love them, is it because of that warm fuzzy feeling you get deep down inside when you’re with them or thinking about them? LOVE is so much more than that. when you ask someone to make love to you, is it because both of you truly LOVE each other, or is it because "let’s make love" is a nicer way of saying "let’s have sex"? has LOVE really completely lost its meaning in the world today?

take a look around you. premarital relations are on the rise. the age of first sexual contact is decreasing. the number of people having one night stands is growing. the trend of sex buddies is becoming common. people are getting married for money. people are having extra marital affairs. people are getting cheated of their feelings and their bodies. people are getting hurt. people are becoming jaded. people are becoming cynical. people are looking out more and more for themselves only.

and so we become desperate to be LOVEd, but we refuse to LOVE. we end up looking for LOVE in all the wrong places, in superficial friendships, in sexual relations, thinking that these people will LOVE us because of what we do for them. but they don’t. because they are no different from us. we are all looking for LOVE. doesn’t matter who you are, how you’ve been brought up, what you’ve been through, you are no different from anyone else who’s ever lived on earth in this one aspect — LOVE. we’ve all been hurt, we’ve all been cheated, betrayed, outcast, used, abandoned in one way or another. what makes your hunger for LOVE more significant and more urgent than anyone else’s?

i have come to the realisation, that the only way to truly love is to accept LOVE as it is first. what is LOVE? LOVE is more than a warm fuzzy feeling, LOVE is more than the sex act, LOVE is more than accepting others as they are. LOVE in its totality is beyond human understanding, but it is the only way to live, the only way to true happiness. we desire such a life, because we have a longing to be loved. and we are already loved — even better, we are loved exactly as we are. GOD loves you infinitely, God loves you despite your shortcomings, your flaws, your crimes, your unhealthy desires. GOD is LOVE.

(ok, i have to sidetrack. this post is not meant to convert anyone to Christianity. these are just things that i have to say at this point in time. i came across my friend’s blog where he goes on and on about being depressed and how all he wants is to love and to be loved, and so i felt the need to post this on my blog. so, this is kinda directed at him lar, but all are welcome to read this.)

all Christians have heard this all before. but knowing it in your hearts and not in your minds is the crucial factor. i grew up learning and knowing all the stuff to do with God, but 2 years ago i realised that i knew it all intellectually, and that was it. it took me 2 years of "backsliding" and searching and a whole lot of stupid mistakes to finally get to where i am today. i’m still a sinner, i’m far from staunch, my life is not entirely what a Christian life should be, but i have come to accept 100% the one thing that matters. That God knows me through and through, all my fears, all my doubts, all my mistakes, but He LOVEs me just as i am, and more than i will ever come to understand. because of this realisation and grateful, thankful acceptance, it has become easier to see people for who they really are — vulnerable, longing for LOVE, afraid to get hurt — and it becomes easier to give a little love in little ways that i can.

i’ll leave you with a song by Michael W. Smith, the lyrics speak more than what i have attempted to share. in the meantime, do listen to your hearts and look beyond the superficialities of this world. this is not a world beyond hope, but a world hungry for love. 

GIVE IT AWAY

she asked him for forever

and a promise that would last

he said, "babe you know i love you

but i can’t commit to that."

she said "LOVE isn’t LOVE, ’til you give it away"

a father lived in silence

saw his son become a man

there was a distance felt between them

’cause he could not understand

that love isn’t love ’til you give it away

you gotta give it away

as we live

moving side by side

may we learn to give

learn to sacrifice

we can entertain compassion

for a world in need of care

but the road of good intentions

doesn’t lead to anywhere

’cause love isn’t love ’til you give it away

you gotta give it away

as we live

moving side by side

may we learn to give

learn to sacrifice

love is like a river

flowing down from the giver of life

we drink from the water

and our thirst is no longer denied

you gotta give it away

there was a man who walked on water

he came to set the people free

he was the ultimate example

of what love can truly be

’cause his love was his life

and he gave it away

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

every point of view has another angle

and every angle has its merit

but it all comes down to faith

that’s the way i see it

you can say that love is not divine and

you can say that life is not eternal

"all we have is now"

but i don’t believe it

there’s a GOD-shaped hole in all of us

and the restless soul is searching

there’s a GOD-shaped hole in all of us

and it’s a void only He can fill

does the world seem grey with empty longing

wearing every shade of cynical

and do you ever feel that

there is something missing?

there’s a GOD-shaped hole in all of us

and the restless soul is searching

there’s a GOD-shaped hole in all of us

and it’s a void only He can fill

that’s my point of view, yeah…