MEET VIVIAN
AAIV UW
I think the biggest thing that God has taught me throughout college is about His genuine and pure love.
Coming into college, my idea of love was very self-centered, conditional, and expectant. I thought it was easy to love people, but only because I would receive something in return. I have always placed my value in peoples’ opinions about me and cared about being well liked. So I think I loved only because I wanted to be loved in return. However, throughout college, God has shown me that there is so much brokenness in this idea of love. We get hurt and disappointed when we expect people to be able to fill that gap in our heart.
Instead, God offers a love that is steadfast, fulfilling, and whole. God freely loves us without expectations that we love Him back. He constantly pursues us no matter how many times we hurt Him or reject Him. He draws in closer when we pull away more. This Godly love is so much more beautiful and sustainable than my ideas of earthly love.
Through this, God has really challenged me to love with this kind of pure and selfless love. He has shown me that maybe love shouldn’t be easy or comfortable all the time. I am still learning every single day how to actively choose to love people. When I get tired and burnt out, I know that I haven’t been turning to God as my source. So He reminds me to come back to Him and He renews my heart for people. The more I understand God’s love, the more I want to show it so that others would know His love too. We have so much to offer the world when we seek to reflect God’s unconditional love. I hope that as a community, we can encourage each other to love freely & genuinely!
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” — Ephesians 3:17-18