A newborn baby is being held lovingly by the father and mother

Love: The Last But Not the Least

Love is an intense feeling of deep affection.

Here we are, at the love part. I just explained about having a great sense of desire. Afterward comes the intense feeling of love because we understand the need and why it matters. The door is now open for love. Just like when the baby was born, we felt an incomprehensible amount of surging, pure love that was never felt before. That is what we feel when God enters in and takes over the situation for us. We have all these feelings of love because we have communicated our feelings, thoughts, and ideas to God. We see Him go to work. We see Him at the end, but more so, we see God through the process.

We see Him develop and create an entire world of beautiful things for us. Sometimes, things that we have never dreamed of. But this is all because we trusted Him. We communicated, talked, and established a relationship. We yearned with desire and we fell in love with the promise that God is there to help us. This is what God is telling us every day. He’s saying, “Here I am. I am waiting for your call to connect. Walk with me. Talk to me. Gather your thoughts and invite me in. Desire me. Love me.” Just like with our own family or friends, we want to do these things with them. We can’t imagine life without them. When we have love for someone, the bond never breaks. No matter how strong the cause of separation, we always hold a special place in our hearts.

That’s because of our memories. The memories that we create build a unique bond with our connections, our talks, relationships, desires, and our love. Think about it: Do you remember when you first reached out to God? What was it for? How desperate were you? Did you give it over to God, or did you keep your guard up? Did you fully trust God to resolve your battle? That represents everything in these steps. Love is built on trust. You can’t move to love without first doing the first four steps. You have to extend yourself and start to listen. Only then, will you hear God speak. Naomi felt she deserved to be alone and lost hope, but Ruth spoke hope into her through love.

Scripture: Ruth 1:15 -18

15 Then Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; turn back and follow your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do the same to me [as He has done to you], and more also, if anything but death separates me from you.” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

Ruth’s loyalty teaches us about the power of love. Her unwavering commitment to Naomi reflects the deep affection and trust we must have in our relationship with God. Just as Ruth’s love led her to a new life and blessings, our love and trust in God can lead us to paths and opened doors we would have never dreamed of.