"I need loving"

This is my mom walking with my 2 yr. old cousin.

Over my spring break days, I was able to spend a lot of time with my youngest cousins.  I don't get to see them very often because they live about sixteen hours away from me, so this was a real treat!  One day as the adults were standing around in the kitchen talking and eating pizza, my aunt's middle child (he is 2 years old) came walking into the room.  He walked up to his mommy and grabbed her around the legs.  As he looked up at her, he said simply, "I need loving."  It was an adorable comment coming from an adorable kid, but it made me think.

As young children we feel that need to be loved by those around us.  We love spending time playing with mom and dad, and when we are hurt or sad we seek them out for comfort.  Being a teenager myself, I see firsthand how at my age we begin to pull away from our parents.  We no longer crave those precious moments spent with them.  Instead, a lot of us like to shut ourselves up in our rooms and work on our electronic devices.  As human beings, we still need to be loved, but as teenagers, we often seek to find that love other places.  Being a teenager is a very emotional stage of life.  Life is governed by feelings, whether they are good or bad.  One of these is the human need for love.  This may seem like a sort of rambling post, but here is the bottom line.  I want to encourage you, no matter how young or old you are, to look for love in the proper place.  What is the right place to look for love?  True love comes from God.  He is the ultimate source of love.  Again and again through the ages God has shown his love to mankind.  The greatest example of this is seen on the cross.  As Jesus died, taking the sins of the world on himself, He was willing to suffer instead of having us pay the penalty for our own sin.  He showed His great and eternal love for us in this way.

When you find yourself feeling like you "need loving,"  look to Jesus.