“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14-15
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NKJV / / / / / “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Some of us yearn to be loved so badly we’ll take any love that will come along. And, in the process, we miss God’s love. We choose dangerous, unhealthy, ungodly, unholy, sinful, displeasing to God love instead of making Him our first love. How many of us have been so desperate to be loved we have fallen into the sin of seeking love in the wrong places from the wrong people and sometimes not even other people at all?
Pornography. Masturbation. Homosexuality. Adultery. Polygamy. Bars. One-night stands. Sex before marriage. Sex outside marriage. Rape. Sexual abuse. Sexual addiction. Too much sex. Sex for the wrong reasons. Dating people we shouldn’t. Prostitutes. Pimps. Incest. Relationships with the wrong people. Oh, this is but the beginning. Alcohol. Drugs. Music that dishonors God. Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Overspending. Anything to enhance what we’re doing. To hide what we’re doing. To deny what we’re doing. To justify it. To keep doing it. And self-love. We turn to loving ourselves, to being consumed with ourselves, to do anything to satisfy ourselves, to make ourselves feel loved. Anything. No matter how unholy. So many excuses. I deserve this. I need to be loved. To feel loved. If you won’t love me, I’ll love myself. Gambling. Materialism. Pleasure. More pleasure. Anything to feel good. Better. Loved. Oh, to be loved, we say!
Dangerous, desperate love that is ultimately deadly if we do not repent of it all and turn to God and His ways, if we do not give ourselves over to the greatest love that ever was, is, and will be, God who is love, whose love is so breathtakingly magnificent, everlastingly fulfilling, joy-producing, brilliant, pure, holy, lovely, invigorating, wonderful, glorious, bountiful, beautiful, precious, magnificent, life-giving, life-changing, wondrous that if we would only hunger and thirst for Him and His ways and surrender ourselves to Him and to His love, we would see there is no dangerous, desperate fleeting love that can compare with His unfathomably blessed love which is ours for eternity when we give ourselves wholly and forever to the Lord Jesus Christ!