Confession: I’ve sometimes treated love like a reward for what I do rather than something to freely receive. I might even have acted that way, oh, at least a dozen times so far this week.
You too?
We often learn early that approval comes from getting it right, working hard, making someone proud, or being who others need us to be. Before long, it’s easy to imagine God works the same way. But from the very beginning, his heart has been different.
The first words spoken over humanity weren’t instructions to earn his affection. They were the declaration that what he created, including us, was good. Before there was striving, there was belonging. Before there was proving, there was love.
What happened in Eden changed many things, but not that reality. We see this affirmed when Jesus welcomed the people who felt least qualified to come near. The weary. The overlooked. The ones who carried more questions than answers.
Jesus doesn’t treat people like an improvement project, as we often do with ourselves. Instead he reveals what has always been true about the heart of God. Love isn’t the outcome after we’ve finally become enough. It’s where God begins with us.
We spend so much of our lives asking, “What do I need to do?” Perhaps a more healing question is, “What’s God inviting me to receive?” His kindness. His presence. His delight. His voice reminding us that belovedness isn’t something we achieve but something we awaken to, again and again.
The beautiful surprise is that when we stop reaching for love as though it’s somewhere out ahead of us, we discover it’s already here. God has never been waiting for us to become more lovable. He’s been waiting with open arms, ready to help us live from the love that has been ours all along.
Wherever we find ourselves today, the truest thing about us is that we are beloved.
And whenever we start worrying love is a reward, that truth is the deeper reality we can trust, that we can relate to each other from, that we can always come home to again.
Gratefully,
Holley Gerth
GO DEEPER IN YOUR HEALING
Sometimes it’s hard to receive the love that’s already ours because past hurts have taught us to expect something different. If that resonates with you, I’ve created a resource to come alongside you. My online course, Heal After You’re Hurt, grew out of one of the hardest seasons of my own life and shares the truth, tools, and insights that helped me heal. If it would encourage you in this season, you’re warmly invited to learn more.
