If the title doesn’t immediately make you start singing the 2003 Black Eyed Peas song, then I don’t know if we can be friends.

For the last several years I’ve been on a personal spiritual journey. I’ve been discovering what I believe and why I believe what I do. Spurred on by finding myself frustrated by different difficult situations in my church community, I found myself constantly asking, “Where is the love? Where is the love?…WHERE IS THE LOVE?!

The church is comprised of individuals who, despite their best intentions, are prone to shortcomings and failings. While love is a central principle throughout the Bible, I recognize that people within the church can still display flawed behaviors and attitudes that contradict the essence of love and compassion.

Conflicts and divisions can arise within any community, even including the church. Varying perspectives, beliefs, and personal preferences can lead to disagreements and misunderstandings, hindering the authentic expression of love. When this happens, it can be disheartening and easy to perceive a lack of love within the church.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 specifically speaks about what happens when things are done without love…

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (The Message Bible: emphasis added by me)

Through my own Bible reading and study, I’ve spent time getting to know who Jesus is and what He taught. During his ministry, Jesus constantly taught the importance of showing love and kindness towards those around us. He acknowledged those shunned by society. He was a friend to the outcasts. A dinner companion to the sinner. A healer of the sick. A comfort to the hurting. The more I read about Jesus, the more I love Him. My faith and trust in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have only increased along this journey.

I acknowledge that I have not always exemplified love in the past, I recognize that there have been moments when I’ve succumbed to pettiness, unkindness, and an unloving attitude. Regrettably, there have been instances where I have responded with unkindness to those who treated me poorly. While I cannot alter the actions of others or the way I reacted in the past, I am resolutely choosing to embrace a loving approach in the future.

My quest to discover “Where is the love?” constantly leads me back to Jesus. I find myself consistently drawn back to Him. I have come to realize that even in situations where love appears to be absent, He remains present.

When asked which commandment is the most important, Jesus answered “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ‘ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ‘ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Simply put, Love God, Love Others.

Following in the footsteps of Jesus, I have the capacity to become a friend to those who feel alone, a source of encouragement to those who are disheartened, and a warm smile for those who find themselves isolated. I can extend compassion and recognition to those who are marginalized by society. Through consciously choosing to care for and wholeheartedly love individuals who cannot repay me, provide personal gain, or offer anything in return, I have the opportunity to manifest the love of Jesus. In each decision I make, I can be the embodiment of the love that someone else needs.

With each choice I make I can show the love of Jesus.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything,Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. 1 Corinthians 13 4-7

Where there is no love… Be the love!

Despite moments when the actions of the church and its leaders have left me bewildered, causing me to question, “Where is the Love?”, I firmly believe that regardless of any circumstances, I can always discover love in God.

I would love for you to follow me on  Twitter and Facebook. You can find me as Looking Joli Good.  Stop by and visit my Instagram page as well @lookingjoligood. Generally, I post pictures of food, plants and puppies, but there are pictures of makeup and beauty products as well.

People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt, hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach
Or would you turn the other cheek?

Father, Father, Father, help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love (love)

Where is the love? (The love)
Where is the love? (The love)
Where is the love, the love, the love?