“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy, 4.

Billy, who gave this insightful answer in a survey of children, could teach us a lot about the meaning of love, couldn’t he? Finding the heart of love while living in a world where love means so many things that it means nothing at all is the constant struggle of humanity. When it comes to seeking the person who will “say your name different” and keep it “safe in their mouth” there are no continental, cultural, or color boundaries.

The question is why? Why is this such a universal struggle for humanity? Today’s Sunday’s Struggles edition of Morning Minutes in the Bible on An American Missionary asserts the answer to that question is one word – God. Evolution believes in chaos and “survival of the fittest” which usually requires cruelty and domination. Paganism believes in gods who are mean, petty, and cruel. The Bible reveals we were created in the image of a loving God who risks everything and gives Himself for us. When He calls us by name, it sounds different. Our name is safe in His mouth. Yet we struggle with believing we can be loved like that.

The most powerful Bible word for God’s love – hesed – has no specific divine origin. It was used early in the Bible for kindness between a husband and a wife to describe a pact of protection (Genesis 20:13) and for one man’s treatment of another (Genesis 21:23). However, it was soon adopted to describe the perfect faithful love of God in His dealings with His people (Genesis 24:27; Exodus15:13). It was the basis for King David's complete trusting faith in God and why he was not shaken by any adversity (Psalm 21:7).

This is our human struggle – to be loved. And that’s where we mess up and why it’s a struggle. Our desire for love goes wrong in two ways. First it becomes all about being loved instead being loving. It is all about what I can get out of it. Secondly, we fail to appreciate the depth of God’s faithful love for us. If we would pause long enough to understand He is the source of all loving kindness, and the reason we see it as such a high and lofty goal, we would relax and quit struggling to find it in all the wrong places. But more importantly we will begin seeking ways to share it with others. Let God call your name and hear the difference. Love like God and let others hear the difference in how you say their name.