If you will listen to your heart, you will hear the many ways you are longing to be loved. This yearning fuels just about everything we do as women. Even when we pretend so hard that we are not, we are always looking for love.

Dear ones—this explains most of our heartaches, most of our fears, and most of our addictions. We are made to be loved. But we live in a world that rarely provides what our souls ache for. Forgotten, ignored, shamed, abused, too many women shift to self-protection, striving, busyness, and resignation. We try to just get on with life, but our hearts cannot be ignored. We must find a source of love that exceeds our needs and can never, ever be taken from us.

Sarah was sixteen when she was hit in a head-on collision. The other driver ran a red light. Badly hurt and bleeding profusely, Sarah’s first thoughts were, I deserved this. If I hadn’t skipped school, this never would have happened. When her father pulled up to the intersection, he saw his daughter’s car, utterly demolished. She began to yell out, “Daddy, it’s not my fault! Daddy, it’s not my fault!” With fierce passion and love, he pushed the firefighters aside and, with his bare hands, ripped the door from the car and rescued his daughter.

True story. And a picture of how your Father feels about you and the lengths he will go to in order to rescue you. In that moment, Sarah’s father forever answered her question of whether or not she was loved by him. Did he delight in her? Would he protect her, fight for her? Was she worth it? Yes, yes, and forever, yes! And your true heavenly Father also has forever answered the question of whether or not you are worth fighting for, worth pursuing. Look at the cross. It cost him everything. And he says, you are worth it.

Our choice as women is to turn to the Source of love and learn to live in his love. For he is the Great Romancer, and we are his Beloved. Nothing else will do.