Life, Love and Pleasures

The essence of life is love, and love, in essence, is a round of eternal pleasures. What a bold and seemingly unrealistic statement! Think about it—in the present state of things, in life as we know it, this often does not seem to be the case. Life hardly feels essentially like love, and love rarely appears as anything pleasurable at all.

Love, as we commonly experience it, is full of trials, pain, and sorrow. It seems, instead, to be a round of eternal sorrows and misery. But perhaps we should pause and ask, “Is this really love?” Are these trials, pains, and sorrows the result of love—or the absence of it? Look around you. Is all the pain and misery we witness in relationships and existence truly the offspring of love?

The answer is a resounding no. These negative elements of life and relationships are not the products of love but of another force entirely—the very opposite of love. True love is selfless, always seeking the best for its object. The power we see dominating much of the world, however, is selfish and hostile, a counterfeit love that produces pain and misery.

True love, by contrast, seeks to please and uplift the object of its affection. It strives to lavish its beloved with gifts meant only to bring joy, fulfillment, and completion. True love seeks to satisfy, nurture, and develop. It is an everlasting stream of pleasures, a source of unending joy. In the presence of true love is the fullness of joy.

But wait—pleasure. What is pleasure?

We, as human beings, often associate pleasure with physical gratification—temporal indulgences that come at the cost of morality. It is the unrestrained pursuit of fleeting desires and emotional highs. This notion of pleasure is misleading and ultimately self-destructive. It does not satisfy; it does not fulfill. Instead, it is hostile and deadly—a counterfeit that leaves us empty.

True pleasure is altogether different. It is rooted in peace, completeness, and wholeness. True pleasure transcends the physical realm, encompassing emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and relational fulfillment. It is total satisfaction, harmony with God, and enduring joy. True pleasure is eternal, fulfilling at the deepest level of the soul.

As the psalmist declares:

“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)