Do You Really Love Me?

I guess this is the question that prompts every longing in our souls: "Do you really love me?" Little girls grow up wondering, Do you really love me? Daddy, do you see me dancing in my party dress and smile with delight over me? When dads are distant or abusive or addicted or just not affectionate, little girls become insecure teenagers and decide to ask their questions of another man, except this time the question becomes, "Will you love me if...?" Will you love me if I sleep with you? Will you love me if I do drugs with you? Will you love me if I lie for you? Will you love me if I prop you up?

Those teenage girls discover a few answers that seem to add something to the empty cup of their souls, like a few drops of water into a dusty tin can. The cup never gets filled, but there is a momentary satisfaction that mimics thirst being quenched. And then teenage girls become grown-up women who have learned intricate methods of coping with a heart that keeps asking, Do you really love me? Some women can spend a lifetime in a marriage wondering, Do you still love me? I know mothers who ache over their children, hoping they really love them. I've watched too many friendships between women end because one felt the other didn't really love her.

I cannot avoid the deep longing in my own soul. Do you reall love me? means, Will you accept my in the proces? Will you embrace what is different about me and applaud my efforts to become? Can I just be human-strong and vibrant some days, weak and frail on others? Can I have a relationship with you without pretending? Can I be honest and expect honesty? Is it okay if my hair looks gross, my morning breath is not minty-fresh, and my jeans are stretched around a few extra pounds? Will you love me even if I disappoint you? Will you love me through dark places? Will you love me even when I doubt your love?

Sometimes we taste this love in our lifetime. Our parents can love us with a pure love. A husband can give a deeply profound love. A friend can spend a lifetime embracing us with unshakable love. But here is the catch about the design of our souls: the love we will know here on earth will never be enough. We have been made by God for God. To operate with only the taste of love we get on earth will leave us incomplete. That's by design. Our hearts have been made to cry out for a love that can come only from our Creator. The cup of our soul will never be filled apart from the love of God. Proverbs 19:22 says, What a man desires is unfailing love. Emotionally, every human being is designed to crave lavish, unfailing love.

*from Angela Thomas' book, Do You Think I'm Beautiful?