Be Loved

“Beloved” is a term we don’t hear much in the secular world but we see a lot in the Bible, and there it mostly refers to the reader — to you and to me.

Beloved. It is a name, your name and my name. It is what our Lord calls us. It is a name that drips with a sweetness, like honey. It stops us cold when we’ve been running. It takes our breath away that we could be called “Beloved” by a holy and perfect God.

What if it’s also an invitation? Be loved. Do we believe that we are loved? In 2 Thessalonians 3:5, Paul writes, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” This purest, most genuine love is ours to embrace. It is for us to breathe in like the most pleasing of aromas and feel like the softest of blankets.

The Bible has a lot to say about love. Because God is love. If you take nothing else away from today, know that you are fully, wholly, unconditionally and completely loved by Jesus, who willingly laid down his life for you and for me. I leave you with the final words of Romans 8:
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“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Be loved.