WHY I MAJOR IN LOVE

By Nicholas Uanikhoba

Love is the ultimate worship of God.
I came to understand this truth in a very spectacular way as far back as May 1997. This is the first time I am sharing it publicly. Until now, I had only shared it with two others.

You see, by 1997, I was in a desperate situation. Three years earlier, I had earned my Master’s degree in Biochemistry, but I still had nothing to show for it. No regular job. No stable footing. I was squatting with a friend of my elder brother in Lagos, Nigeria.

There were moments when it seemed like a breakthrough was near. Right after graduating in 1994, I interviewed for the position of Assistant Lecturer. I even knew I had scored excellently. But then, the University suddenly placed an embargo on employment.

I also applied for the Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue my PhD in Canada. After making it to the final interview in Abuja in 1995, I thought my dreams were about to take flight. But that was the year Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth following the tragic execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa by the military regime. Once again, the door slammed shut.

By the time I found myself stranded in Lagos, it felt like every avenue had dried up.
This was the backdrop to the encounter that forever shaped my understanding of love as ultimate worship.

My friends call me Nick.
One fateful evening, overwhelmed and broken, I poured out my heart to God—most of it was complaining, murmuring, self-pity, and a flood of tears (like Hannah, 1 Samuel 1:10). I don’t even know when I fell asleep.

Then, early the next morning, around 5:00 AM, I heard a gentle, audible voice in my right ear:
"Nick, Nick, there are three things I want you to do for Me,"—then a pause.
By then, I was wide awake, sitting upright, listening intently.
Then He continued:
"Worship Me."

I waited, thinking He would list the other two things. But there was nothing more.
To this day, it remains the only time I have heard the audible voice of God (John 10:27 – "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me").

As I sat there pondering, He impressed three clear instructions in my heart, one after another—what He summed up in "Worship Me":

• Praise Me (Psalm 34:1 – "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.")

• Sing My Song (Ephesians 5:19 – "speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.")

• Learn how to love (Matthew 22:37-40 – "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.")

Since that day, it has become my habit to respond to life with worship.

I’ve learned that choosing to walk in love—especially in painful and desperate moments—is the highest form of worship.
You can praise God.
You can sing His songs.
But if you are not walking in love, your worship is incomplete (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 – "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.").

Praising Him and singing His songs leaves no room for murmuring, complaining, or self-pity.
Walking in love means trusting that God loves you deeply and is fully in control of your circumstances (Romans 8:28 – "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.").

This revelation carried me through one of the hardest seasons of my life.
In October 2020, when I lost my first wife after twenty years of marriage, it was the most devastating blow I had ever experienced.

Yet, even in that hospital room, I asked the nurse to leave me alone with her body for a moment.
I lifted my face to heaven and said to my Father:

"This is so painful and shocking to me, but I promise to continue to worship You. I will continue to serve You. Please help me."

Like Job, who fell to the ground in worship after loss (Job 1:20-21), I chose worship over despair.

Yes, I broke down in tears afterward, but by then, my heart had already anchored itself in worship.
Two weeks later, God gave me a song that carried His promise:

"I bear the weight of the whole universe. I will carry you."

That assurance has never left me.
He will always carry me (Isaiah 46:4 – "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you.").

As for me, I am committed to worshiping Him—because it is a commandment written on my heart.
And that's why He continually teaches me how to love—because love is the ultimate worship.

Glory be to God!