Have you ever experienced love in its tough form?

The kind of love that makes you want to run away from the lover, but you cannot because, deep in your heart, you recognize that it is genuine, yet hard?

You know, that kind of love that makes you question the lover’s audacity?

The kind you want to walk away from and ignore the consequences but your feet won’t move because they respect the power behind that love?

I’m not talking about love that is all romance.

I mean the love that probes and demands explanations for your decisions, actions and inactions; the kind that threatens your peace if you dare to go against its instructions.

I’m talking about the love a mother has for her daughter, or an older gentleman for a younger male, or a leader for his followers or a friend for another friend.

This kind of love will scream for help whenever it sees that there is evil looming around you. It will reach out for your hand and pull you out of danger. It will look into your anger-filled eyes and blurt out the bitter truth in its raw form, and then it will speak to you gently,

“I will be here for you. Always.”

It is the kind of love Uncle Mordecai had for his niece, Esther. Her people were in danger of being killed and it looked like she did not care. She thought her own life would be spared because she was married to the king but her uncle dared to put the truth right in her face.

“Remember you are also one of us.  You will perish with us, even though you are queen.”

It is the kind of love that was silent when Jesus Christ, before His death on the cross, cried out to His Father,

“If it is possible, take this cup away from me!”

It is the kind of love that says to you,

“I have the ability to give you everything you WANT but I choose to give you just what you NEED.”

We all need someone in our lives who would love us this way.

Someone who is bold enough to speak the truth to us when we don’t want to hear it,

someone who would hold our hands and pull us out of danger, like the two men in Bible history, who held Lot’s hand and pulled him out of the of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, because, though Lot knew the city was going to be destroyed, he chose to linger for reasons best known to him.

We all need that person who would look beyond the sentiments and the fear of being rejected by us, to tell us what we need to hear per time.

We all need that person who is ready to spank us really hard and then hug us really tight.

We all need that person who understands that there is a tough side of love.

We all need that one person in our lives.

Do you have that one person in your life at this moment or did you have them in the past but now, they are no longer there because you rejected the love that was hidden behind their stern look and hard words?

You may need to go on a search to find them and give them access into your life again.

Because,

tough love is still love.