Why is it so important for us to be loved? We were created by God with this need to love and be loved. This need is at the core of your being, and if you don’t feel you are loved, it leaves a huge empty space in your sense of worth and value.

The sad truth is if you grew up without feeling loved as you should have been, it can leave you emotionally needy, and that means you can’t love others as you should. You don’t have love to give, so to speak. This lack of love and loving then can lead to all kinds of emotional and mental problems, such as resentment, bitterness, a judgmental spirit, or depression. And then your lack of love from others begets more lack of love from you to others. It becomes a vicious cycle.

This great need for love can lead you to look for love in all the wrong places, as the song goes, and put you on an endless quest for acquiring love, and that quest actually takes you further and further away from true, unconditional love. Can you relate to this? No doubt you know people who are on or have been on that futile quest for love.

Here’s the incredibly good news: God’s love for you can fill up that emptiness inside, which then gives you the ability to love others, and then you’ll discover the love you give others comes back to you. We get love by giving it away, and we have love to give away because we know we are loved by Jesus.

If you want to fill up your inner coffers with love, find some ways today to love others. Who is in your life today? How can you give them love? Here are some suggestions:

Purpose in your heart to find something good about that person or people in your life today and express it in words to them.

Listen to someone’s story without criticizing or lecturing them—even without giving advice.

Call someone who is needy and say, “I’m here for you if you need me.”

Compliment someone on a job well done, an attractive outfit, a kindness offered.

Smile!

It doesn’t take much to share love with someone else. We just have to remember to do it. Of course, we need to pray God will help us to become lovers—people who willingly and frequently share his love with others. Remember, love begets love. Try it! You won’t be sorry you did.