Beloved

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7

Today is February 14th, Valentines Day.  This date and this holiday may conjure up many different feelings.  Some love this day, the card and gift giving, the mushy sentiments, and the romantic hopefulness.  For others this day brings feelings of disappointment, loneliness, or even inadequacy.  

Valentines Day is often seen as a day to celebrate romantic love, which often leaves many people feeling uninvited the party.  Some have romantic partners who they know from experience will not live up to the ideal, even for one day.  Others have lost loved ones and find themselves celebrating the love they once had.  And many people simply have no “other half.” 

Regardless of where you find yourself on the Valentine’s Day spectrum, this verse in 1 John 4:7 begins by calling you beloved.  Before telling his readers to love others, John reminds them, and us, that we are loved.  

Beloved… that word says so much, doesn’t it?  The word beloved means well-loved, favored, dearly loved, esteemed, worthy of love.   This is how God feels about you.  You are well-loved, favored, and dearly loved.  You are esteemed and counted worthy of love.   

God loved you so much, He decided that you were worth leaving heaven, becoming human, and entering into our brokenness, that you were worth dying for, worth defeating death for, and rising again to give you real, abundant, eternal life.  You, friend, are beloved by the One who moved heaven and earth to be with you.

I want to challenge you to take some time today, on this day focused on love,  to celebrate the love relationship that you have with God through Christ Jesus.  Accept the love of One who knows you fully and loves you completely. Celebrate the fact that you are the Bride of Christ, that you are loved and chosen by God.  Revel in the love of a God who sends His Spirit to live in you, of a God who wants you to abide, or live, in Him and He with you.  

You are beloved.  It is only out of this love that we can truly love others well, “for love comes from God.”  Take this day to remember that you are God’s beloved, then take that love to the world.

A few additional verses about God’s love for you:  Psalm 42:7-8, Zephaniah 3:17, John 3:16, John 16:27, Colossians 3:12-17, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, 1 John 3:1-3 (the entire book of 1 John),  Jude 1:1, Revelation 1:5-6