Berthe Morisot. Dans Le Parc. Petit Palais, Paris
‘I am loved by God more than I can either conceive or understand.’ Let this fill all your soul…and never leave you. You will soon see that this is the way to find God.
Henri de Tourville
What would it be like to live and move and have our being in the knowledge of God’s all-encompassing love for us?
Growing in this love relationship is the core of our spiritual life. Love is everything. Without love permeating everything we think and say and do, nothing of eternal significance is birthed. We must recognize and abandon every false way of obtaining love that has enslaved us for so long and trust unreservedly that we are loved. But how?
It is only through faith in the descending love of God that we will be set free. In all four Gospels, but most especially in the writings of John, the message is clear: God gives us the choice to journey through life as one who is valued and loved. It is this truth that dawned on those who met and spent time with Jesus, who watched Him as He encountered damaged and broken people, suffering and perplexed people, and told them simply, from the purist of all hearts, that they were loved. This is the astonishing mystery : the transcendent Creator of the galaxies, the oceans, and all created things knew it was impossible for us to grasp the immensity of His love for us, so He sent Jesus to be the incarnation of that Love.
“Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault—we who stand before Him covered with His love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to.” Ephesians 1:4-5
It is well to remember that your worth, your preciousness, and your uniqueness are not given to you by those with whom you live and work in chronological time. They are given to you by God, the One Who has chosen you and calls you His Beloved child. Despite life’s unpredictable and often cruel circumstances, never doubt you are deeply loved by God.
“You are my Beloved” reveals the most intimate truth about you. It expresses the core truth of all created things. The eyes of Love see everything as precious, with infinite beauty, and of eternal value. God delights in you. In some mysterious way, you matter to God because nothing, no one in all of creation can reflect His love back to Him in exactly the same way you can.
It is in prayer that we first begin to recognize our unique worth, for it is in prayer that Jesus gives us His Spirit. It is the Spirit that opens our hearts to a new dimension of love and a greater capacity for loving. So persevere and endure when you are struggling in your circumstances, trusting that Love is always with you and growing in you. Remember Whose and Who you are. Come soak and nourish yourself in Love. Live continually in that Love, and let it fill your soul.