When You are Loved by God

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I open the envelope and read the scathing words. They pierce and cut. Destroy. Mutilate a heart that is already in pieces. I can't face the disdain. The lack of grace is almost too hard to bear. There is no love...only hatred.

People become our mirrors. We look at them to see ourselves and think it must be the truth. We say to ourselves, "I must be unlovable. I guess I deserve this volley of terrible words. There must be something totally wrong with me if others are treating me this way."

There is only one real Mirror. We are totally loved my Him. He will always tell us the truth without ripping us apart. He will reflect what He wants to see  in us, because He doesn't see us as we are, but rather what we will be. He knows us and sees us better than we can ever know ourselves. We can't even begin to comprehend the type of love that makes God man and allows a King to be crucified.

Being loved changes us. It makes us into better people. And while we are all loved by God, many of us live unloved. We don't grasp the depth of His love. We don't even beginning to understand how much we are cherished. I am convinced if we can truly get how much He loves us we would change the way we behave and who we are.

So how does understanding how truly we are loved change us?

We fear less. Who needs to worry and fret when you know there is Someone who cares about you even more than you do for yourself?

We can live generously. We don't have to grasp at people and things, because we know God will provide.

We can face the heartache. He loves us so much He will walk us through it. We can be confident He won't leave us.

We will be less jealous. A jealous person really holds to the belief that God is holding out on him or her. A person who knows God's love realizes there is no need to have angst over what others have.

We can forgive. When we see how much God loves us we can let go of the hatred knowing that whatever hurt He allows in our lives can be used by Him for our good.

So how do you live loved? Here are a few things that I do to remind myself how much I am cherished by God...

Maintaining a gratitude journal- Every morning I start the day by writing down a few gifts God has given me in the past twenty-four hours. It is amazing how much we don't see how God is at work in our lives if we aren't paying attention. A gratitude journal is a reminder that He truly does care for me.

Meditating on His Word- As I read Scripture, I try to ask myself, "How do these verses show God's love?" Many times I list the ways He loves me right beside the verses. {A Single Column Journaling Bible has enough space to make these lists.}

Changing my thinking on God and people- People's behavior towards me is not a reflection of who I am, but rather of who they are. Also, God is not "people". People's love is fickle and sometimes selfish (not love at all). God doesn't love like people do. However, I have been treated by others is not a reflection of what He thinks of me.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ... Ephesians 3:17-18

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