From an early age, I’ve always been drawn to love stories. As a teenager, I buried my head in romance novels, enraptured by stories of love and passion. The older I got, the more I searched for the love I had seen in the pages of the books I had read.
Even in the relationships I had, which in hindsight I had no business with, I sought out that love.
Many a time, my heart got broken because those to whom I gave my love to didn’t know what to do with it.
Today, I help women write their love stories not because I love “love,” which I do, but because I have received a love that words sometimes fail me to articulate.
To be honest, I stumbled on that love. Yes, I was searching but in all the wrong places. Come 2013 -2014, I was still searching. My father had died the year before and my safety in a father’s love felt ripped away.
“Who would love me as he did?” “Who would walk me down the aisle when it was time?” These were the questions that came up in my search for love. Little did I know I would experience love in a way I had never done. Where a man I didn’t know before my earthly father died would take me under his wings and call me daughter.
In that relationship, I started experiencing the type of love I didn’t even know I was looking for. I began to find love that had no strings attached; and as I did, I began to find me.
But things went even further. As I sat into that love, I had an experience that would mark a new level in my walk with God.
It was at the Uncommon Woman Conference in 2014. A lady spoke and I can’t tell you what she said but I’ll never forget 3 phrases she said that has stayed with me since then.
I am loved by God
I am chosen by God
I am purposed by God
As a woman who wanted love, both physically and spiritually, those words pierced my heart. Something shifted in me and those 3 phrases settled in my heart that day.
God loved me. I wasn’t a waste of space. My life had meaning.
From then on, the basis of all that I have done as a woman has been those 3 phrases. As time goes by, I keep desiring to epitomise them every single day.
And I do. As I do, I experience that love in many ways and through many people. I also try in my own way, to display that love to people.
I don’t always get it right but I will keep trying because the One who loves me has shown me that many desire His love.
In the same way that sometimes absolute strangers show me His love, so also I must do the same.
But I’ll never forget that my love catalyst was a conference where a woman spoke those words that changed me.
That conference is coming up this March 2023 and you should attend. It’s the Uncommon Woman Conference. But more than that, I want to invite you to accept and embrace God’s love.
Matthew 22:37-40 shows that love is of the highest importance to God. All His commands to us and for our interaction with others stem from love.
You may be wondering how you accept and embrace this love. First by embracing the truth of His word because, in it, His love is displayed. He loves you so much that He gave a Person named Jesus as a connection and seal of His love for you.
Second, by loving yourself and embracing the love that comes through people. People want to love you. You’ll be surprised that they do. I should know. I have been on the receiving end too many times to count. So, accept it. But also love yourself. Your life will bloom when you love yourself as God made you.
Finally, you must share the love you have received from God. It could be in the smile you give the woman at checkout who looks tired or in the words you speak to your child even though you’re tired. It could also be in the comments you post on social media or in the help you give your name. You have many opportunities to love people so why not do so?
Love is such a powerful force for good. Will you accept my challenge to you today to live life in love?