Do you remember reading the post about having three real loves in your life? The young love, the hard love, and then the love we didn't see coming, the one that is supposed to be the one. You believed it didn't you? I know I did. I could relate so well, my first love was an immature high school love. My second was definitely a hard one, one of the ones you don't think you will ever get over. The third? Yeah, definitely didn't see that one coming. He made me feel a way I had never felt, made me believe in myself and in us. But when that love ended I couldn't help but wonder if there would ever be a fourth? Girls, we can all relate right? You can only tell yourself that your heartbreak has a purpose for so long before you no longer believe it. Been there. Stick with me through this and you will see that your heartbreak really does have a purpose.

Why are we single? Gets old doesn't it? God has chosen for us to be single. Why? 1 Corinthians 7:35 explains that our singleness is "to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord." What we were missing in those three loves was a relationship with God. That is the ultimate reason they each failed. "When we bring God-sized needs to human beings, they cannot possibly succeed." This is where toxic relationships begin.

If we want to feel loved, then we must begin with knowing that we truly are loved. Ben Stuart explains in his book "Single, Dating, Engaged, Married", three primary ways to know that love is present.

Love Sends. He explains, love cannot sit still, it moves, expresses in action, initiates. The best way to show this is through Christ. In 1 John 4:9 John told us, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." This was the ultimate gift.

Love Sacrifices. We have all seen The Titanic, where Jack literally froze to death to save Rose from sinking in the Titanic. God not only came for us but he sacrificed for us. How do you know you are loved? Christ left heaven. Left all his comforts. Lived the life of a poor man and then sacrificed his life so that we could be forgiven and brought into his family.

Love Stays. Even when staying is hard. "For better or worse, richer or poorer, in Sickness and in health." We say this because love stays. God knows that we are going to struggle, he knows that we will be weak, that we will fail, but he promises he is not leaving. He is staying because that is what love does.

Girls, you do not need to spend a single moment of your life trying to earn the love of others. You have God's. You do not need to look for fulfillment from anyone. You can find an abundance through him.

The purpose for your heartbreak was so that you could see that God is longing for a relationship with you. Its purpose is so that you can pursue him and only him. To build that steady foundation that all other relationships will be built on. Whether your season of singleness is long or short, you can know that God has granted you this season as a gift, and it does have purpose.