Dear love,

Oo, ikaw. Para sa’yo ang letter na ‘to.

Ano ang reaksyon mo nung nabasa mo yung first line nito? Kinilig ka ba? February na—sakto! You desire to be affirmed that you are indeed loved.

Kaya nga sinusubukan mong gawin ang lahat para mahalin ka nila. You live by the saying, “it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Pero bakit ganun? You live in constant fear because you don’t know if you have loved enough, given enough, worked enough to gain love back—if you have already earned it.

Nakakapagod ‘di ba? Pero willing kang ulit-ulitin dahil natatakot kang magising isang araw nang nag-iisa—at hindi mo yun kaya. Ganito ba talaga?

If hindi ka kinilig, baka ito reaksyon mo: “Ewww! Cringy topic.” You’re not the romantic type, and you feel that by shielding yourself from love, you are wise. And a wise person learns from other people’s mistakes, ika nga nila.

You have been successful in assuring yourself that love is an unnecessary part of life, that you could move on without it. Kung tutuusin, mas malaya ka sa paningin mo dahil nakumbinsi mo na ang sarili mo na “love is a trap.”

Pero malaya ka nga ba? If you are truly free, then why is it that you feel restricted to express yourself? That you always have to be guarded out of the fear of falling into this trap? The reality is, deep inside, you’ve been longing to feel and experience the true meaning of love.

I won’t also be surprised if you find it hard to believe that it is really you I am writing to. In fact, the moment you saw that word, you didn’t want to continue reading. Maybe you are one of those who got hurt, betrayed, or abused in the name of love.

Let me tell you this, I understand. I understand how that four letter word can draw out so many emotions from you. I want you to know that I understand the pain, the sorrow, the agony. I, more than any other person, understand all these emotions. Whatever your reaction was, I want you to know that I understand.

I understand the fear, the longing, and the pain, but I want you to know it is not supposed to be that way. All of these things are the result of the wrong mindset and expression of love. The world has defined love in ways that are not even close to what it is truly about.

You don’t have to be afraid of not deserving True Love. You don’t have to earn it because it was freely given. True Love came, not at your best, but at your worst times—at your lowest, ugliest, most unacceptable state. Love came in response, not to your goodness, but to your rebellion. Perfect love casts out fear because it assures you that what hindered you from experiencing True Love has been dealt with.

You don’t have to hide your longing anymore because it will be graciously filled. You see, the world has reduced the idea of love to romance. Though there is an aspect of romance in love, I assure you that romantic love will fulfill but a certain portion of your longing. The longings of the human heart are deeper and wider than you think, and only True Love can fulfill them.

And the pain? I want you to know that love is not meant to break but to restore. Restoration is not accomplished by simply addressing the emotion but allowing a Person to bring you to completion. Love is not just an emotion; it is a Person. I came for you. You do not have to search for Me. I am longing to restore you, to make you new and whole once again as you come to Me and receive Me, love incarnate.

With all My Love,

Jesus

PS: This is just a snippet of My love letters for you. I have lots of letters, and I am excited for you to read each one of them so you’d discover more of the great love that I have for you.

If you don’t know how to begin reading My entire collection of letters for you, you may start with these:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

. . . but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:8