Have you ever felt so understood by someone that it shocked you? Have you ever had such a true, genuine, pure love for a person that you would do anything for them? That you would wait for them for a thousand years if you had to. Have you ever loved someone in such a way that even if they wanted nothing to do with you, even if they hurt you, you would be there for them, no matter what? Have you ever felt a passion so strong that you would lay down your life for this person?

So often, we get caught up in romance and passion. We listen to love songs and watch movie that encourage this "picture perfect" love. But how do we actually know if it is true love? Whether it be in a novel or real life, it is hard to pick out what is real and what is fake, especially when there is so much deception in the world. 1 Corinthians 13 is the famous love chapter. I'm sure you have heard it, and even if you haven't heard all of it, most people have heard bits and pieces. It says that without love, even the greatest action is nothing. It says that even things like prophecy can become useless without love--that love lasts forever. It says love is patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, does not demand its own way, is not easily irritated, keeps no record of wrong, rejoices in the truth, and never gives up. Love endures. Love does not lose faith. Love hopes. I believe with my whole heart that this is exactly what true love looks like. When I look at love through this lens of truth and purity, the movies are lacking. The songs sound like they could have so much more. The novels seem as though the author did not know what love looks like.

Yes, a love between a man and a woman can definitely be like this. Love between a mother and daughter can be like this. Friendship can look like this. However, I feel like most people do not realize that this is how God loves us. The words that many of us would melt to hear are the same words God speaks to us. "I love you, I would die for you, you are my treasure." And it is all true. Isaiah 62:5 says this about God's children: "For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you." Ephesians 5:25-27 tells husbands how to treat their wives: "For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for herto make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault." The love that Jesus Christ offers us is the truest and most selfless love that anyone will ever experience. It is the love that a marriage is symbolic of. Even though marriage can be beautiful, it is just a picture of the real thing. The real thing is the love that Christ showed when He sacrificed Himself for us. The real thing is the intimate relationship that He desires to have with us. He wants to hear everything about us, be the One we go to, and walk with us in every step of life. As a young woman, this is everything I have ever wanted.

Falling in love with Jesus Christ is unlike anything we will ever experience on this earth. The thing is, before I experienced this, I had never known what perfect love felt with. No one knows what perfect love is like until they experience the love of God. The reason for this is that God cannot make mistakes. He will never let us down. He will never break our hearts or turn us away--not even unknowingly. The reality of this is hard to grasp, especially in our flawed, human minds. We do not know what this is, it almost makes no sense to us. But the beauty is that it doesn't have to make sense. We just have to accept it. God does the rest. James 4:8 says, "Come close to God, and God will come close to you..."

Because I live in a broken world, this love used to scare me. I did not understand it and I was terrified to trust in it. I felt like I was just waiting for things to fall through, and I'd be left alone. This is not how God's love works. It is different from the people in our lives, from the world's definition of love. It is trustworthy and steadfast. We do not have to hold our breath and wait for something bad to happen. We can rest in the grace of God. He'll be your best fried, the lover of your soul. He's not going to leave you--ever.

Even now, I become frightened. Every once in a while, more often than I'd like, I find myself panicking. Sometimes it takes a long time to realize what it is and understand what I'm freaking out over. Subconsciously, I will start to believe that one day God will hurt me or leave me or let me down, because it happens with people all the time. But this isn't the case, and even though I've been hurt in this world, I do not need to apply that in my relationship with God. You do not need walls with God. You do not need to walk on egg shells with God. You do not need to tone yourself down or pretend with God. He want's you to be completely open with Him. All of you, standing before the God of the universe.

Jesus Christ loves you, and nothing will ever change that.

"This is the story of the Son of God
Hanging on the cross for me
But it ends with a bride and groom
And a wedding by a glassy sea
O death where is your sting
Cause I'll be there singing
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Is the Lord
This is the story of a bride in white
Waiting on her wedding day
Anticipation welling up inside
While the groom is crowned as king
O death where is your sting
Cause we'll be there singing
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Is the Lord Almighty
Who was and is and is to come

This is the story of the Son of God
Hanging on the cross for me
And it ends with a bride and groom
And a wedding by a glassy sea
This is the story of the a bride in white
Singing on her wedding day
Of the God who was and is to stand before a bride who sings
Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty"

Wedding Day, City Harmonic