(Previously Published on Mrs Words Blog)
I saw this plaque come across my feed as I was shopping for some Christian books for my children for Christmas. It stuck out to me. It jumped out at me. It caused me to take a moment to remember that I really am loved. Even though I know this, there are times in life that we need to be reminded of this simple truth. This post is a gentle reminder to you of just that. My beautiful friend, you are loved! Beyond comprehension, greater than you can imagine, more than you know!
In the english dictionary, the word love means “a strong feeling of affection; a great interest and pleasure in something”.
‘Love’ in this day and age means a lot of different things to each one of us. The word itself in the english language is so limited, yet so limitless. For example, think about how many times you have used the word love in your everyday communications. We often say “I just love that dress on you”, or “I love cherry ripe ice-cream”, in the same sentence that we say to our beloved spouse, “Babe, I love you!”, and to our children “I love you to the moon and back!”. The word love takes on many forms and meanings depending on how we use it.
In the ancient Greek, they had numerous words for the different types of love. For example: Eros refers to “passionate love” or romantic love; storge to familial love; philia to friendship as a kind of love; and agape refers to “selfless love“, or “charity” as it is translated in the Christian scriptures (from the Latin caritas, dearness). The term erotic is derived from eros. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_(concept))
This makes it a little bit simpler and gives us a clearer way to identify which type of love we actually mean. Today, I am here to tell you that you are loved with an agape love. It’s a selfless love. An all encompassing love. The kind of love that is without question, without conditions, without limitations. It’s a love that we don’t deserve, that we can’t earn, that we shouldn’t possibly expect and have no right to, but it is there despite us.
It’s the love of a Father (God Almighty) who through a grace undeserved, sent His Son (Jesus) to earth to live and then die for ALL of our sins – because He loves us that much. His Son then rose to life to enable us to have a life eternal with Him in Heaven – because He loves us that much.
Friend, I can’t begin to even describe His love to you in adequate words. Truth is, I’ve put off writing this piece for months because I feel completely inadequate in expressing this reality, this truth of His incredible LOVE to you. As I am writing, I am sitting here with tears rolling down my face, blinking through the water in my eyes. I have prayed and lamented and I can’t shake it. I have to write this to you. To remind you that you are indeed LOVED. So much more than you think.
This morning, I was reading one of Karen Kingsbury books ‘When Joy Came to Stay’, and found my heart breaking. It’s a story of a beautiful, successful, Christian woman who is struggling incredibly with depression to the point where she has checked herself into a Psychiatric Hospital for treatment, intertwined with a story of an innocent little girl who is being abused in the foster system, yet still has an incredible awareness of God and His love for her.
I haven’t finished it yet, in fact, I couldn’t read anymore this morning. I was too overcome with tears and my heart was breaking. God was reminding me that I need to write this piece. He reminded me that there are so many in seemingly hopeless situations, and life as they know it isn’t all that good. People are suffering, being abused and hurting and they need to know that they are loved with an everlasting love by an incredible God. There is hope and a better future for them. God sees them, He knows them, He hasn’t forgotten them and most importantly, He agape loves them.
So, now my friend, I want to remind you! No matter what is going on in your life; no matter what you’ve done, who you are, what you believe about yourself, what your circumstances look like, you are LOVED with an agape love! A love that sees beyond boundaries, race, identity, circumstance. You are loved despite yourself and because of yourself. Your thoughts, your actions, your personal beliefs have absolutely nothing to do with it, because God loves you just as you are. All of you! In your beauty and heartache, in your ugliness and mess, in your success and failures, in your ups and downs, highs and lows, in your tiredness and energy, in your coming and your going, in your lack and plenty, in everything and through everything. HE LOVES YOU!
There is nothing that you can do to stop this love, nowhere that you can run to get away from it. His love will follow you to the ends of the earth and beyond. You don’t deserve it, but GRACE has made a way for it. You are LOVED! Beyond anything that you can hope, think or imagine! Do you believe me yet?
Let me help you understand this a bit more… My Bible tells me in Jeremiah 31:3 that the Lord loves me with an everlasting love; Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV) tells me this: “…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, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”; and Romans 8:39 (NIV) says this: “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Below is the Passion translation version of the beautiful scripture found in Ephesians 3:18-19:
“…Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!”
Are you convinced yet? Well, I guess you don’t really need to be convinced, because that’s the thing about this agape love of God – it doesn’t need for you to understand or even accept it, it just is! God’s Love IS, because God IS Love and He LOVES you! You are Loved!
My friend, you are a precious gem in His sight. He created you and wants to have a relationship with you so that He can pour out His lavish love upon you every single day, as you live in communion with Him. If you haven’t already done so before, take a moment now to thank Him for His love. Let Him know that you acknowledge and accept His love, and that you love Him too.
If you ever need a reminder, or want to know more about this God of Love, the best place to go is to the scriptures. The Word of God (The Bible) is full of promises pertaining to the love God has for you. It’s my watering well, the place I run to when I’m feeling down, low or heavy. When I need to be reminded of His great love for me, I drink from this well. I delve into His Word and there I find Peace, Hope, Grace and most importantly, Love! I see Him with His hands open toward me, beckoning me to come to Him and immerse myself in His love!
Beautiful friend, please know, You Are… LOVED!
