We all share various opinions on what people want or desire and guess what, I also have an opinion. I believe the greatest natural desire of any human is to love and be loved. If you think about it for a while, you may eventually agree with me.
The word love is such a powerful and broad word and it can be found in many of the things we do. We were created by love, to love and be loved. More than money and power, relationships run the world and at the core of relationships is love. Seriously, think about it.
People seek relationships because they have a natural desire to love and be loved; one comes with the other. From as early as a baby to as late as an elderly person, love is at the centre of our being.
I have two amazing daughters. If the toddler is eating, more often than not, she will always want to share with the baby. I believe she does this out of a natural desire to love her sister. Also, if the baby is playing with a toy and refuses to allow her older sister to play with it, she will complain that her baby sister isn’t sharing. I believe she does this because, at that moment, she doesn’t feel loved.
Throughout our adolescent years, building relationships and wanting to fit in consumed us. We desired friendships because we wanted to love and, once in those friendships, we expected to be loved. Even in our young adult and adult years, these natural desires continued.
We as adults share these same desires at our workplaces and we would be lying to ourselves if we didn’t acknowledge it. No one goes to work and always want to be alone or isolated. We all desire friendships and we all desire to feel welcomed, accepted and loved. We are also motivated to go to work if we have good relationships there.
If loving and being loved are indeed a human’s greatest desire, it would mean they are also a human’s most protected asset and, if abused, can lead to some very ungodly actions and generate very ungodly emotions.
The greatest expressions of human love and being loved are found within the boundaries of romance and spousal relationships as well as maternal and paternal relationships.
Romantic and spousal relationships take love to another level since within them is housed the pinnacle of a human’s expression of love and being loved.
Sex, in my opinion, is the most powerful act of human love and that’s why I believe it is spoken about so much in the Scriptures and why God restricts it to the confines of marriage. When this expression of love is abused, people negatively transform and are capable of doing things that even shock them.
Adultery and fornication have destroyed more human lives than war and famine and is the main contributor to sexually transmitted diseases. Although the desire for sex is fuelled by a fulfilment of pleasure, I believe subconsciously hidden in that pleasure is a greater desire to be loved. That’s one of the reasons why adultery is so rampant.
Parents love their children and willingly sacrifice to make sure they are provided for and protected. That’s why it destroys parents when their children rebel against them and chose negative paths to follow. Parents interpret these actions as a lack of love from their children.
We all desire to love and be loved and I would love to invite you to join me in sharing some of that love. What we have may seem little but, in many cases, it is more than others have.
I want to encourage you tomorrow to look in your cupboard and put a few items in a bag and take it for someone. The person doesn’t have to look like they are in need; it’s just the act of spreading love that is important. It could be a neighbour, a work colleague, a stranger, the postman, a brother or even your doctor.
Let’s cherish our greatest desire by showing love to others so they can feel loved.
• Corey Worrell is a former Commonwealth Youth Ambassador. Email coreyworrell@gmail.com.
