Twenty-seven years. It has been twenty-seven years since I accepted the Truth. Twenty-seven years since Jesus filled me with hope. Twenty-seven years since His life filled me to overflowing. Twenty-seven years since I was moved from lost, rejected and abandoned to purpose-filled and lovingly redeemed.
Yesterday morning, I found myself there again. My thoughts bounced around from the regrets to the rejections to the abandonments. Disguised within the thoughts were the lies:
You are alone.
You deserve it.
It is all your fault.
You will never change.
It’s just who you are.
As I repeated the lies, the pronouns changed and I heard:
I am alone.
I deserve it.
It is all my fault.
I will never change.
It’s just who I am.
Then, three little words in a song that I was listening to brought me back to the truth.
I
AM
LOVED.
That’s right. I am. How easily I forget. I find it so much easier to tell others that God loves them, but it seems unnatural to tell myself. So I don’t, and I forget.
In John 15:9, Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” He goes on to say that remaining in His love means keeping His commands, just as He remained in His Father’s love by keeping His commands. When I choose to think about all of the things and people that I can’t change, I am not remaining in His love. When I choose to remember that He loves me, I can’t help but love Him back and I am motivated to love His people. This is how we remain in His love.
I am loved. This isn’t boasting. It isn’t bragging. It isn’t elevating myself. It is simply truth. So I will repeat it. I am loved.
Now it is your turn.
Words Lived 