You Are Loved
And a voice from heaven said, “This is
my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” – Matthew 3:17
Who are you struggling to please today? Is it your
spouse or your children? Maybe a parent or a boss or a friend? Take a deep
breath. You are enough.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the expectations and
demands of others that we miss the simple truth of a loving God. He is pleased
with us. We belong to Him and we are enough. We don’t have to do anything,
provide anything, be anything. He loves us without any of that.
The sad truth is that we will always disappoint
people. And they will disappoint us. No one can always meet the expectations of
another person. We might be irritable, we might be busy, we might not be physically
or financially able to take care of what they want.
Somehow, we always expect people to be better than
they are. We expect our children to always have perfect manners. We expect our
boss to always value us and give us lots of pay raises and plenty of time off.
We expect our friends to always have time to do what we want, when we want. And
we get upset when they aren’t always able to live up to our expectations.
Who are we to demand so much from others? And who are
they to demand so much from us?
It’s just such a relief to know that we don’t have to
perform in order to earn God’s love and acceptance. We don’t have to be perfect.
He loves us when we’re irritable and when we mess up and when we don’t have a
clue. With God, it’s not about bank account balances and what we can give Him.
He’s God. It’s all His anyway.
He wants our love. That’s all. Because when we love God,
everything else falls into place. It becomes about Him and not about us. It
becomes about serving Him, living for Him, placing Him first.
How would your life change if you truly understood
that you are a beloved child of God? Would you make different choices if you
truly felt His love and acceptance? What steps would you take if you knew that
you lived in the security of His arms?
Jesus never doubted God’s love. He had many trials
during his time on this earth but He knew that His strength came from God the
Father. He understood that time alone with God would direct His steps. Do you
remember what Jesus did before He chose the twelve disciples? He prayed. Alone,
I might add.
We are such achievers. We value ourselves based on the
opinions of others. We tell ourselves we are worthy based on what we own. We
lift ourselves up and call it self-confidence when it’s really just pride. We
are nothing without God. And we are everything with Him.
Today is a new day. You are human. You will make
mistakes in this day. Something will irritate you. You’ll say the wrong thing.
You’ll disappoint someone who was counting on you. You’ll do the best you can
and it will never be enough to satisfy the demands.
Take a deep breath. Rest in your Father’s love. Say
you’re sorry if it’s appropriate. Try again. Reach out to others in love. Offer
them the same grace you’ve been given. Be quick to forgive and slow to lash
out.
God loves you. Let that soak in as you go through your
day. Feel His Presence. You’ve got this because He’s with you every step of the
way.
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