I hope we have made it clear by now that the message of Father’s love is not enough!  It is the beginning!  It is essential because without the message there will probably not be an experience with His love.  The message alone will not change our world; the experience will change everything in our world. 

            One thing we all (with very few exceptions) have in common is living the experience of love hunger.  We live it to varying degrees but nonetheless most of us have lived our lives in love hunger. 

Most of the world and the Body of Christ still do.  Now think about that for a minute.  If love hunger is a common denominator what are its characteristics or its symptoms, if you will.  How does love hunger manifest itself in or through a person?  Think about yourself first.  Are there some things about the way you feel, think or act that you do not like about yourself, or that other people do not like about you?  Now think about other people in your world.  Do any of them act in ways that upset or offend you? 

            What are some of these symptoms?  Do you see or experience love hunger in yourself and in others?  What effect does love hunger have on relationships?  How does love hunger effect intimacy in relationships?  The answer should be obvious.  Love hunger is a thorn in the flesh of relationships.  Love hunger can make true intimacy difficult if not impossible.  Love hunger typically produces negative characteristics that can result in separation and division.  This makes experiencing the power of true love difficult if not impossible. 

            What is the fruit of love hunger that is growing on your tree?  Anything that does not correspond to expressions of love, honor and respect for self and others and God is most likely rooted in love hunger.  Are you brave enough to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the symptoms of love hunger that may be at work in your life?  Are you well acquainted with any of the following?

  • Abandonment
  • Rejection
  • Shame
  • Fear
  • Anger
  • Stress
  • Anxiety
  • Frustration
  • Discouragement
  • Hopelessness
  • Depression
  • Low self-esteem
  • Self Hatred
  • Envy
  • Jealousy
  • Covetousness
  • Insecurity
  • Loneliness
  • Feeling unloved
  • Unwanted
  • Worthless
  • Struggling with sexual issues
  • Struggling with authority figures
  • Withdrawing from people
  • Struggling to make and keep friends
  • Still looking for home
  • Feeling like a victim
  • Feeling like you don’t belong or don’t fit
  • Repeatedly overlooked as if you are not there
  • Performing for love and acceptance

        These are some of the fruits associated with love hunger.  It is unreasonable to think I could list every possibility, but hopefully this will give you a start.  Remember this:  the fruit of love hunger can adversely affect us spiritually, emotionally and physically.  If we do not deal with all areas adversely affected we are left undone and we will continue to experience the consequences of anything that is missed.

      By experience, we know how to live love hungry, don’t we?  For some of us we have become comfortable in this position and we are not interested in rocking the boat or mentioning the deadly “c” word, change.  For many we are desperate for change even if the unknown is frightening.  We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.  We are tired of the same old life experience.  Sick of the rut of life.  Obviously, there has to be something better than this.

      What would our life be like if we took off the robes of love hunger and put on the royal robes of unconditional love provided by our Heavenly Father?  Speculation will not get us anywhere, will it?  Experience is our best teacher.  Love must be experienced to make its true impact in any life.        Let’s think about it.  Is there any character weakness or sin that you can think of that is not rooted in love hunger?  The greater the love hunger is in a person’s life, the easier it is to see or the more visible it becomes.  In contrast, it is usually more difficult to see the evidence of love hunger in those who had loving parents, and/or those who believe they had a good childhood.  Some are satisfied with their lives and do not see they are missing anything, so this discussion seems like it does not apply to them.  The truth is that the life that is available to us in Father, Son and Holy Spirit is much bigger and better than anything we could have hoped for or dreamed of.  Father’s love is more powerful and life changing than our wildest expectations. 

      If your life is truly committed to God, then there must be continual change and transformation.  We must be healed of our love hunger issues, and then wrapped in the robe of our Father’s love.  That experience will prepare us for the tremendous life change for learning to live loved. 

      Can you see that living in love hunger and living loved are polar opposites?  The transition is a process and it is an individual process unique to each person.  No time limits or strict methodology allowed here because it is all about relationship and the true rewards and satisfaction of life giving, intimate relationships. 

      I am sure you have heard testimonies of people who said things like, “we grew up poor, but we didn’t know we were poor.  We thought we were normal.”  Many of us are about living in love hunger that way.  It is all we have known, so we do not realize that there is anything wrong.  We don’t realize there is so much more available in life in the way of overwhelming love from Father God and living in the supernatural rather than the natural life we are so well acquainted with. 

      We are commanded to love God and each other.  Are you tired of trying to obey that command only to repeatedly fail?  If so, you should realize that your difficulty is the result of living in love hunger yourself.  If we are to give love we must first experience love.  We must first experience the real thing if we are to be able to give the real thing.  Lip service about love won’t bring internal transformation.  Head knowledge about love will not bring internal transformation.  A personal encounter with Father Himself is the only thing that will empower us to step out of the life of love hunger and into the Kingdom of Love and the Heavenly life of learning to live loved. 

      I challenge you to ask Father for revelation so that you can compare your life experience with the life that He has available for you.  Why would you not want the abundantly ‘more’ in life that He offers you instead of what you have now?  He is much bigger than we can comprehend and the life of love He has made available to all humankind is beyond our wildest dreams.  It is supernatural life changing experience for all who are willing to pursue God at the expense of self.