What Do You Most Desire?

Proverbs 19:22 in Today's New International Version reads like this: "What a person desires is unfailing love." Love that doesn't fail, that is the greatest need of all humankind.

The Amplified Bible puts it this way: That which is desired in a man is loyalty and kindness, and his glory and delight are his giving.

So we could say that someone who relates to others with unfailing love is loyal, kind and generous ("For God so loved the world that He gave ... ). Other translations use the word "lovingkindness" instead of unfailing love. Can you imagine the impact it would have on our neighborhoods and our world if all children were raised with unfailing love? If all marriages were based on unfailing love? A young man soon to be married asked a couple whose marriage he admired, "How can I make my marriage succeed?" The answer was, "Love your wife unconditionally and sacrificially." That's another way to say, "What a person desires is unfailing love."

Alcoholism and drug addictions not only destroy individuals and families but put a terrible strain on our society. Pastor Henry Wright in a tape on addictions states that all addictions are rooted in the need to be loved. Simply put, if we feel unloved, if our hearts have been broken, we are deficient in the neurotransmitters necessary to feel good about ourselves. It is easy for people who feel bad all the time to become dependent on activities or substances that make them feel good. But whatever the "fix," it is only temporary. Even a good thing (like food!) when abused, is destructive.

Here's the good news: Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds those who trust in Him.

How do we receive God's unfailing love? By trusting in Him. And if we want to trust in him but find it hard, He will even help us with that. How do I know? In Mark 9:23 we see a man who confesses, "I believe, help me with my unbelief!" And Jesus gave him what he asked.