Live like you are loved
July 13, 2010 | Faith: Knowing Christ
I’m taking Debbie Alsdorf’s Faith Dare. Today I’m to live as if I am loved. And I am. Completely. Totally. Just as I am.
But I also want to live as if I am in love.
I want God to know that He is on my heart. I want my Heavenly Father to know that I realize a world exists outside my own. That people are seeking Him. That people are questioning. That people are hurting. That the Christian faith isn’t wrapped around my comfort, or my wishes, but rather knowing and loving Him, and listening for His voice and direction.
That’s love. Reciprocal love.
I think we’ve all had our share of unrequited love.
Perry in 6th grade. His brown bangs hanging just at the right angle across his eyes. I loved him. Completely. Totally. Or as much as a 6th grader can know and understand that kind of love. Perry knew I existed. He said hello. He smiled at me–once.
But my love was unrequited.
Or the time I loved someone, and what I received back was harmful, hurtful, no matter how I tried. Sometimes I thought there might be an opening, but when I was let inside, a door was quickly shut, forcing me back on the outside. My friend was hurting, and if you came close you were subject to my friend’s pain. I will always love this friend, but the love remains unrequited.
I don’t want to offer either version of love to Christ. A love that acknowledges Him, but says, “not interested at this time”. Or a love that says, “you get too close and I’ll push you out.”
I want to love like I am loved.
To love back. To talk. To share. To work through the more challenging aspects of our relationship, like when He says He knows better for me, and I can’t see it, or as I struggle through the harder parts of Scripture make me scratch my head in wonder.
Alsdorf says, “I have not always lived loved–by people or in conscious acknowledgement of God’s love. Truth is, I have lived insecure, fearful, and with a chronic belief that I will never be enough.”
We are enough. What a beautiful portrait of grace.
And He is enough. Have you shared that with Him today?
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness; I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt. (Jeremiah 31:3-4)
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Wow, Suzie, powerful post. “I have lived insecure, fearful, and with a chronic belief that I will never be enough.” That seared right into my heart.
Lots to think about today. Thanks!
July 13th, 2010 at 2:02 pmDitto Deb’s comment.
I know that I am loved, but I don’t always feel loved. Hence I don’t always live as if I am loved. I tend to be one of the people in the ‘get too close and I’ll push you away’ category.
Lord Jesus, I pray that I will not push you away when you get close to things that need fixing in my life. I pray for strength to face my fears and overcome them, so that I can live and love confidently without building walls around me. Amen.
July 14th, 2010 at 3:50 amI don’t even know how to respond to this Suzie. It seems so convoluted. It must be the form of dyslexia I have that’s not allowing me to unpack it. When I’m ready for it I reckon God will make it quite clear for me.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:59 amHaving a biological father who abandoned me as a child, treated me as if I was in his way when he was around, and who now continues to deny my existance, a step-grandfather who molested me from a very, very young age, and an abusive step-father, I struggle with acceptance every single day. This is just the scripture I have been searching for. I have only now realized in my late thirties, that I have pushed those who love me away in order to protect myself. Why would my Heavenly Father love me when all of the other men in my life have discarded me? It’s a constant internal struggle. And one I’m working on and praying about. Thank you!
July 14th, 2010 at 11:56 am“I want to live like I am loved”
I love this. This morning I read a chapter from Plan B that said “What would you do if you were absolutely sure that God was with you?”
Your comment reminds me of that… to change our perceptions first and to be confident in our actions that “first He loved us” so that enables us to love… or as Plan B says “first be confident in God’s promise to always be with us” and then to act based on that assurance… obviously after reading this same concept twice in the last 20 minutes, perhaps God is trying to show me something about Himself.
Thanks for this …
July 25th, 2010 at 9:40 am“I want to live like I am loved”
I love this. This morning I read a chapter from Plan B that said “What would you do if you were absolutely sure that God was with you?”
Your comment reminds me of that… to change our perceptions first and to be confident in our actions that “first He loved us” so that enables us to love… or as Plan B says “first be confident in God’s promise to always be with us” and then to act based on that assurance… obviously after reading this same concept twice in the last 20 minutes, perhaps God is trying to show me something about Himself.
Thanks for this …
July 25th, 2010 at 9:40 am