Why are we so obsessed with love? In every genre of art and entertainment, from novels to songs and films; love, romance and sex sells. We can’t get enough of it and we seemingly can’t live without it. It seems that we’re hard-wired to love and be loved.

It might surprise you to find that the Bible not only recognises this longing and need, but it actually says that the origin of all of it comes from God Himself. The Bible says that God literally is love. And the Bible says that Love Himself created humanity in His image. In other words, we love because of Love. We desire because He desired to bring us to being. Therefore, unsurprisingly, the Bible tells us that our ultimate experience and expression of love is found when we are in unity with the source of all love.

But you see, the problem with humanity is that we went looking for love elsewhere. We went looking for love in other humans, who although created in the image of God, can only give so much love back. A moon does not shine, it simply reflects the sun. We cannot give each other the true depth and fullness of love that we crave, particularly when we aren’t properly reflecting the source of all Love. At best, we give each other little doses of love when we feel like it and when we can afford it. And at worse, we give twisted, screwed up, conditional love that damages more than it fulfils.

We went looking for love in the euphoria of sex and drugs and all the other pleasures we could find. The things that give us the ‘highs’ and the neurochemical rush - but they are temporary, shallow and ultimately unfulfilling. A tepid wading pool compared to the wild, unfathomable depths of the ocean that we were created to explore.

So humanity searched for Love in all the wrong places and came up empty. We brought pain and suffering to ourselves and our world as a result of our reckless and rebellious path. It all seemed hopeless. We seemed to have lost Love for good. So what happened next? The Bible says that Love came to find us and to win us back. Jesus, who the Bible claims is God made human, entered into our broken and loveless world. He lived a life of grace and peace. He showed love to those who were seemingly unloveable. He touched the untouchable. Accepted those deemed unacceptable. And by doing so, He revealed what it looked like to be reconnected with the source of Love once again. His ultimate act of love was the core reason He came to us in the first place. He took on Himself the repercussions of a broken heart and rebellion - rejection so deep and hurtful that its consequences could only be paid with blood; His blood. So Love bled and died for you and me.

But that isn’t the end of the story - the final claim of the Bible is that Love conquers all. Jesus did not stay in the grave. Grief, death and suffering will not have the final word. Rather Love ushers in a new day. A day that we can finally reconcile back to the source of Love. A day that we can learn to walk in step with Love and learn how to truly love once again. A day that shines bright with hope to all those deemed unloveable, untouchable, and unaccepted. So will you keep looking for love in all the wrong places or will you reach out your hand and accept Love’s gracious gift?