“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God.
This is the true self.
Every other identity is illusion.”

~ Brennan Manning

 

I assumed she knew.

How could she not know?  This Godly young woman’s life preaches the Gospel whether or not she’s using words–her decisions, counsel, countenance all point to One Thing.  Jesus.

I assume you know, too….

We go to church.  Read and study scripture.  Bookmark Christian websites.  Pen our faith in paper journals.  Proclaim it with our lips, in our homes, online.

It’s not that we haven’t heard it or read it.  It’s too important to forget, yet remembering is so hard. Why…is..that…?

Is it simply that knowing with your head doesn’t equal believing with your heart?

Will you declare this with me, right now – out loud – and pray the ears of your heart hear it with believing?

I am beloved.  

(Colossians 3:12)

I’m convinced the enemy delights in our defeat.  He’s been hissing lies since the garden. Venomous fangs punch holes in our hearts, siphoning belief and injecting poison in its place.  Ears are deafened, vision is obscured, perspective is distorted.

He peddles junk we’re much too eager to buy:  the (false) belief whatever it is we have to offer doesn’t matter, isn’t enough, falls short in comparison to everyone else.

We see the talents of others and stamp them Better.  We compare ourselves to family, friends, even strangers (insanity!) and assign them a greater value because they’re doing something we cannot, will not, have not or may not even want to do!

Shoulders slump and countenance falls because a distorted mirror reflects imaginary inferiority.

Listen to me, lovies–

God calls you beloved!

God calls you beloved and when he looks upon you he sees his son, covered in your skin, speaking with your voice.  He values you and he doesn’t need you, he wants you.

I searched the new testament for instances of the term beloved; in the ESV translation I found 66 verses.  And though every verse doesn’t apply exactly, when you read them at one time, you come away with a sense of how God sees his children–with great intimacy, affection and unconditional love.  (Related – if you’re interested, a study of the word and related derivatives, its Greek origin and application)

God has made you unique–do you understand this?!  You are one of a kind.  Precious.  Irreplacable.

I want to shout it until you hear, shake you to awaken you from belief’s slumber, press it into you until your heart receives what your hard head already knows.

You are altering the future by impacting everyone around you by how you treat them, how you choose to love them (or withhold love), how you listen, encourage, invest.  Y o u.

Some of us will make tiny ripples and others will send waves crashing, but each one will forever change the surface of the water.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Some of us are stubby pinky toes and some of us are melodious voice boxes and some of us are fleshy thighs or muscular calves or beating hearts but we’re all part of the body, and when it’s at its healthiest, all the parts are doing their job and working together. (1 Corinthians 12:14-25)

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul draws an analogy between the physical body and the spiritual; how every part is necessary.

Verse 19, “If all were a single member, where would the body be?” and in verses 22-23a, “…the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor….”

Every part matters. Lesser is greater, last is first–Kingdom ways refused to be boxed in man’s convention.  It’s a kingdom of opposite value in so many ways.

It is no small thing that you are God’s beloved; in fact, it is everything.

Everything that matters, anyway.

If what the Bible says is true, Jesus gave his life for you.  Our ears fall numb from hearing that so often, but when I allow myself to linger on this, I begin to see my worth.  My value to God.  The purpose and significance of the things I do well.  Though it is likely that others may share your talents and gifts, not one person on the planet, past, present or future, shares your thumbprint.

Yes, I assume you know these things (I assumed she did, too) but sometimes we need to be reminded.  When it feels like everyone around you seems to be achieving greater successes; or doing greater things for the Kingdom; or enjoying the blessing of great marriage or having children or finding the perfect job; or being more talented or generating interest from Very Important People or receiving more opportunities; or maybe it seems like you don’t have any talent whatsoever, nothing distinguishable to offer or that you’re an invisibility cloak wrapped around vanilla…whatever it feels like…

It’s not about what you do or don’t do, say or don’t say, contribute or withhold–God doesn’t love you any less or any more based on your performance.  It’s simple Truth, impossible for the human mind to comprehend, but it is enough–

You. Are. Beloved.

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With {{love}} from one who needs to be reminded, too.

Note about the photograph at top:  This image is a small glimpse of the Berlin Wall; passers-by are able to “mark” their visit in a most unusual way.  I was moved by the chewing gum heart…reminding me you can find love anywhere if you’ll only look….

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