You Are Deeply, Deeply Loved
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:4-7
I spend my days working with high schoolers, and one thing that stands out to me lately is how much stress and pressure they feel simply to make it through the day. I know I felt this too when I was in high school…and college… and when I first started my job… or became a mom… and I feel it even a little bit right now.
It’s so easy to get bogged down throughout our day with messages that remind us we are simply not enough. We’re not doing enough, we’re not pretty/smart/funny/popular/successful/you-name-it enough.
And while those things feel so real in the moment, the most powerful truth is that as a child of God, we get to throw those heavy burdens off our backs and embrace a new identity. An identity that says:
- We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1)
- We care carefully knit and intentionally formed by a loving God (Psalm 139).
- We are fearfully and wonderfully made; just how we are right now is wonderful (Psalm 139).
- We are known by a God who numbers every hair on our head (Luke 12:7) and counts every tear we cry (Psalm 56:8)
- We are cared for by a God who knows what we need before we even ask for it (Matthew 6:8).
- We are understood in our weakness, and God gives us the Spirit to help us (Romans 8:26).
- We are continuously prayed for by Jesus Christ himself (Romans 8:34).
- We are accepted (Romans 15:7).
- We are called children of God through His great love (1 John 3).
I could keep going on for hundreds of verses, but here is the point I am trying to make: the lies and pressures we experience that tell us we aren’t enough cannot compare to the truth of God.
We are seen, we are cared for, we are deeply, deeply loved. And my prayer today is that the truths about who you are sink deeply into your soul and you believe them in the core of your being. You are deeply, deeply loved.