"What's Love Got to Do With It?"

Proverbs 19:22

22 What a man desires is unfailing love[a];
better to be poor than a liar.

Everyone needs and wants love. For love is considered part of a basic need in Maslowe's Hierarchy of Needs. But did you know that we actually have a love greater than any love we could possibly receive? King Solomon emphasized that it is very difficult to find the level of loyalty that every person desires. Unfailing love is unconditional love. What does unconditional mean? According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, unconditional is defined as:

1: not conditional or limited : absolute, unqualified
2
: unconditioned 2

We often have conditions on the love we give. I will give you love if you do ____ (fill in the blank) for me. But God has given his love to us anyway. He provides for us every day out of love. He did the unthinkable and gave up his only son, Jesus for us just to show us how much he loves us. He made us in his own image just like how children look like their parents because he wanted us to know that we are his. He loves us so much that he wants to occupy every area of our life to bless us beyond our wildest dreams. When everyone else leaves, God will still be there.

King Solomon of course was talking about the love of another but he makes something very clear, it is better to be poor than a liar. It means we are to have "moral integrity" (NIV Study Bible). Ultimately, we are to be true and real with ourselves and those around us. So it's better to be without someone than to lie to anyone. "What's love got to do with it?" Everything!!! If we are unwilling to love unconditionally, meaning in good and bad times and truly give of ourselves, then to say that we love is more like saying I like you for right now. We have to first love God, because only then will we understand the example of love and we will begin to love ourselves enough to not do and be destructive to our bodies and in our life. If we are destructive with our bodies and lives because we do not love ourselves, what then will we do in the lives of others?