I BELIEVE

Tina Turner said it well in her 1984 song, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” I believe that love has everything to do with it. People write and sing about the lack of love because they are searching for love and can’t find it. I believe that everyone wants to be loved.

There is a hole in all of us that has a deep need to be filled. Some of us try to fill this hole with work, relationships, sex, drugs, alcohol, hobbies, and the list goes on, but somehow, we still feel empty.

When I was in my late twenties, I learned that I was one of those empty people, and life for me didn’t even seem worth living. Fortunately, two friends asked me if I wanted to go on an Emmaus Walk, which is a Christian Retreat. I said, “Yes.” When I went on this retreat, I learned what love is. God is Love, but that was not what I thought growing up. I always thought God was some kind of judge and jury, ready to punish me for every rotten thing I’ve ever done in my life. Not only did I learn he loved me, but also that he is a giver. It is written, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”What an amazing truth!!!! I take this truth about love with me everywhere I go.

In October of 2008, I went into Robert Scotts Correctional Facility with Keryx, a Christian prison ministry. In my talk to the inmates I asked, “Do you want to be loved and if the answer to this question is yes, then raise your hand.” The amazing thing was not only did all of the inmates raise their hands, so did the Keryx team, and prison staff. The Keryx team demonstrated God’s unconditional love to the inmates because we didn’t care why they were in prison. We just wanted to share the same love with them, that we received ourselves. I was also granted the privilege to go to Mel Trotter Ministries in Grand Rapids, Emmet County Correctional Facility, Grandvue Medical Care Facility, and Ellsworth High School. At each of these places I asked the same question, “If you want to be loved, then raise your hand?”. It was amazing!!! Every hand was lifted high and eyes were filled with tears.

I began to realize that every human being is born with a deep hole in their heart that only God can fill. We can try to fill this hole with many different things, but we will find ourselves always wanting more. I prefer to call this hole my God spot. He is the only one that can fill our hearts full of unconditional love and make us complete, lacking nothing.

So to answer Tina Turner’s question, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” I truly believe God has everything to do with it. Just ask yourself, “Do I want to be loved?” I am positive the answer will be, “Yes.”