A World Running Low ON Love Is An Unhealthy World

​"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8)

On this Valentine's Day, a day that celebrates love and affection, I can't help but wonder if we are running out of both.

Not running low, but running out.

We are a world that with rapid acceleration is trading in compassion for power, human touch for screen touch, faith for certainty, conviction for convenience, wisdom for information, wonder for skepticism, joy for distraction, reconciliation for division, and maybe most of all, sacrifice for self-preservation.

God called Himself love—not strategy, not dominance, not efficiency. Love. And in His design, He wove that love into our very biology, creating oxytocin—the chemical that bonds mother to child, friend to friend, spouse to spouse, and even human to God - (research shows our oxytocin levels rise when we pray or mediate or engage in a spiritual practice).

Oxytocin, it's the substance that reminds us we belong to each other. That we need each other.

But are we starving ourselves of it?

When our interactions are reduced to screens, when disagreement turns into division, when leadership prioritizes winning over loving, is it any wonder we feel more isolated, more exhausted, more adrift? Love is not only being abandoned as a guiding principle—it’s being biologically depleted in the way we now live.

In a world that was founded on love, created by a God to promote our capacity to survive and thrive on love, injected within us as a hormone to fuel and spread this love, it is of no small consequence to live in a world running low on love.

When the body runs low on oxytocin, we have higher cortisol levels, meaning higher stress and anxiety. I know there are people feeling this.

Oxytocin is critical for trust, empathy and bonding. Without it the world becomes isolated, connections shatter. I've written extensively about the loneliness epidemic. Here we are.

Low oxytocin levels can make people more guarded and suspicious, leading to increased fear in social situations.

Oxytocin helps lower blood pressure and promote heart health. It is also linked to anti-inflammatory effects. Lack of love is often a quiet killer.

And when oxytocin is low, people may turn to quick-fix dopamine hits (e.g., social media, substance use, or unhealthy habits) to compensate for the lack of connection. We spend a lot of time blaming our borders for our drug crisis; it might be time to look inside our borders at our lack-of-love crisis.

On Valentine's Day, we often spend a lot of time reflecting on a sentimental kind of love, but love runs deeper than sentimentality, it's actually a necessity. We often point to hate as a killer, but what really is the difference between hate and a lack of love and compassion?

Physiologically, it turns out, not much difference at all.

And yet, the beautiful thing about love is that it doesn’t depend on systems or governments. It depends on people who refuse to let it die. Every hug, every act of kindness, every conversation that leans toward understanding instead of judgment—these are not small things.

They are revolutions against the depletion of love.

So today, on a day meant to celebrate love, I don’t just hope for romance or grand gestures. I pray for a return to what God designed us for. That we choose love—not just as a feeling, but as a FORCE. That we create it, share it, and replenish it in a world desperately running low.

Because love, real love, has never been dependent on who holds office. It has always been dependent on who holds space for others. Who FIGHTS for those spaces for and with others. Someone else's unwillingness to do so is not the same as permission for me to do so.

That fight is still within our power. Nothing will dissuade me or discourage me from believing in that fight.

From fighting that fight.

Hug someone today.
Drop your screen long enough today to gaze into the eyes of another human.
Pray.
Meditate.
Worship.
Share joy or laughter with someone.
Thank someone.
Donate to someone.
Take a walk in nature - (love for nature is real and replenishes oxytocin).

Just be someone's Valentine today. Not the sentimental kind, but the God kind.

Love.