“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”
1 John 3:1-2
I think that living in this world, we so often search for love in all the wrong places. We search for love in validation and in inclusion and in acceptance from others. We search for love in the faithful and loyal actions of people we care about. We search for love in praise and compliments. We search for love in our friends and our significant others and our families. We search for love in people and in places and in things.
We search for eternal love in earthly places. We search for love in pretty and perfect forms- wrapped up and tied with a bow, but we forget to look to the cross. We forget to look to the most single important demonstration and act of love that this world has ever seen.
A love that is mocked for you.
A love that is beaten for you.
A love that starved for you.
A love that experiences shame for you.
A love that wears a crown of thorns for you.
A love that bleeds for you.
A love that sacrifices for you.
A love that innocently takes your place.
A love that retreats to darkness for you.
A love that dies for you.
The kind of love that our hearts so deeply crave cannot be found in the empty embraces that this world has to offer us, but in the wide open arms of our Savior, stretched out on the cross, pouring out for us.
Because every earthly picture of love was once originally painted & perfected by Love Himself.
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We spend our whole lives looking to be loved but we don’t realize how loved we already are in the simple and beautiful truth that the God of the Universe looks at you and me, and He calls us His beloved.
The God of the universe, the same God who paints sunsets, shapes mountains, and hangs stars, has chosen to love us, not because of who we are, but because of who He is. Our role in this is to BE-LOVED.
To be His beloved is to be loved unconditionally. To be His beloved is to never walk alone. To be His beloved is to walk in closeness and intimacy with the literal Creator of the World. To be His beloved is to be blessed in every way. To be His beloved is to be loved in a way that is exceedingly deeper and larger than anything our human minds could ever comprehend. To be His beloved is to be relentlessly pursued. To be His beloved is to be loved eternally. To be His beloved is to be loved beyond earthly thresholds. To be His beloved is to be wrapped in grace, even in the midst of your sin. To be His beloved is to accepted and adopted. To be His beloved is to be taken care of. To be His beloved is to be covered by a love that is bigger than anything you fear or face.
To be beloved is to simply be loved. Not by the world’s standards, but by God’s example. And to be loved by God is to be loved unconditionally, overwhelmingly, recklessly, wholly, powerfully, completely, eternally, boldly, perfectly, faithfully, steadfastly,
and abundantly.
And in that love, we can call ourselves so much more than ‘beloved’, but chosen, redeemed, justified, treasured, purposeful, and enough. So today I challenge you to live life loved. Live life in light of His love for you. Walk with ‘beloved’ as a banner over your life. Let your smile radiate His love to the world. Choose to live loved and to let it seep into every part of your life and corner of your heart.
Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you that you are able to look at a sinner like me- completely messy and undeserving of anything you have to offer or give, and still call me Your Beloved. What a true privilege and an honor that is. I celebrate the grace and abundant love you have for me. I pray that you would open my eyes to the depth of that love and I pray that that love would become a banner over my life- impacting the way I walk, interact with the world, and view myself. In your beautiful and loving name I pray, amen.
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