“I need a new car.” “We need a bigger house.” There are so many things in life we say we need. But what about what we truly need.

Of course, in the simplest case, we need to live. Hence, when Abraham Maslow put together his hierarchy of needs, the base of the pyramid were those things like food and water and shelter. But what about beyond that?

As I sat in my Sunday Bible study the other day, our teacher said, “Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but don’t our deepest needs come down to love and communication?” My wife looked at me and said, “I don’t think he’s oversimplifying.” In fact, it’s probably more true that we over-complicate things. We search for so much to fill what we think are the needs in our lives. We come up with what we’re sure will bring us joy and happiness and rest. But those things don’t fill us.

When we look to our relationship with God, what are the things we give to and receive from Him? He gives us His love in the form of the sacrifice of His Son. He cares for us even before we could love him and when we fight against Him even when it’s best for us.  And when we come to understand what He’s done for us, truly understand it, we can’t help but love Him right back.

But He also communicates with us so we know what He wants. He speaks to us through the Bible to show us the huge, amazing story of His love. And then He gives us prayer, so that we can speak with him and share what’s on our hearts, the things that way on us, and be able to express our love and thanks to Him.

Take that thought into your other relationships.  What does love and communication mean in your marriage? (Men: seriously, with love and communication you’ll be connecting straight to your wife’s heart.) What does it mean with your kids? Pay attention to how you feel and what it looks like when someone shows you love and makes an effort to communicate. Then, gocus on showing love to others and on authentically communicating with them this week. And see what happens.