4 Reasons I Love Being Loved

My kids are both sweet and sour on a regular basis… usually sour as are all of us from time to time. Depends on the minute. Or day. Or hour. However, every once in a while, one of my children surprises me with an unexpectedly sweet moment that becomes a heart treasure.   I had one of those special conversations a few days ago with my middle child, Berlyn. It was bedtime. Teeth were brushed. PJs were on. Prayers had been prayed. The smell of strawberry shampoo lingered from her freshly showered head (sometimes in summer I bathe them, really I do). As I brushed a stray, wet hair from her eye, the sweet conversation began with an innocent question…“Mommy, do you know what I love?” “What do you love?” I asked, a whisper. “I love being loved,” she said thoughtfully. “Yes. I really love being loved.” Lying beside her in the dark room, I could scarcely process the vastness of her statement. It was the simplest of thoughts, delightfully honest, yet one of the most profound and insightful statements I’d ever heard come from her heart. When she spoke those four little words, “I love being loved,” I heard several things: 1) She had a deep longing to be loved. 2) She knew she was loved. 3) Her love tank was being re-filled nightly. 4) Her greatest need is love. All of us can relate. Our greatest longing and need is also to be loved… to feel safe, adored, and absolutely content in love. I don’t know where today finds you, I don’t know your situation, but I sense God nudging me to tell you that He loves you. Completely. Perfectly. Eternally. (Yes, I’m talking to you!) He knows your name, He knows your heart, He knows your circumstances, and He hears your prayers. He loves you and desires for you to rest in His love. God’s Word says so. You. Are. Perfectly. Loved. God’s love is not based on performance or beauty, position, or abilities. Many times I mistakenly think that if I could just do this better – that God would love me more. That if I just hadn’t done that – God could love me more. The truth is this: God will never love you more or less…no matter what. His love is complete and you are the object of His heart’s affection.: No matter what you’ve believed in the past, choose faith to believe this now: you are valued, priceless, and adored by God. “Take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18–19, MSG). Let those words sink in. Savor the special sweetness of God’s love for you today. Take it very personally. Linger long on thoughts of His affection for you. Let them find and fill your heart in wounded places. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).