Your loved

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3

Everyone alive has been created to love and be loved. Because we’ve been made for love, I guess you could say we’re all desperate for love. And because we’re desperate for love, it’s amazing what we’ll do to try to get love.

We try to get love by being thinner, smarter, or nicer. We try to get it by having bigger biceps, or by making more money. We try to get love by having the most impressive resume, the most impressive wardrobe, or the most impressive home.

Because acceptance feels like love, we may make the mistake of trying to get love in many ways that just don’t work. If you’re beautiful according to the world’s definition, or if you have loads of money, you may receive more attention. You may get strokes that make you feel more lovable or more important. You may feel validated and accepted.

But here’s the truth: You can never experience a true sense of worth or peace through achievements, success, good looks, or by manipulating others by being nice.

If you try to get the love you need through these unproductive ways of relating, you’ll always be in a panic; you’ll never be able to internally rest. Why? Because, you’ll always feel you need to prove your worth through something external, one more time. You’ll feel the stress to stay beautiful, grow your bank account, or always have the best kids, to feel loved.

This will only bring insecurity, turmoil, and fear. To experience the love you want, you simply need to know and accept this one thing:

You are already loved. Nothing can change this truth. It’s immutable, just as God himself is immutable.

If you are beautiful and feel good about yourself, wonderful! But you don’t need to try to get your worth from your looks. If God has gifted you with riches, wonderful! But, you don’t need to tie your worth to money.

If you have a fantastic job in which your skills are highlighted and your colleagues admire you, great! But you do not need to tie your sense of worth to your achievements.

Why?

Because you are already loved. You already are valuable. You already have what you want.

That’s it. That’s all. End of story.

When you embrace the truth that you are loved, you can breathe a sigh of relief. No more fear. No more striving. Just rest, because nothing can take away the truth that you are loved or that you have immense value.

What great news. 

"The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing."  (Psalm 23:1)