Cherished.
This is a word that has been on my heart lately. I was on a mission trip in Costa Rica last month and there was a particular night that I couldn’t sleep. I was feeling a little lonely so I asked God to speak to me, and to let me feel His presence. Out of nowhere the words, “you are cherished by Me” came into my head. Those words repeated over and over and I felt them deeply.
I didn’t even know that that’s what I needed at that moment, but Jesus just wanted to tell me that He loves me. That He’s for me. That He holds me. That He cherishes me – the 5’7”, blue-eyed, passionate girl that He created. Me! What a thought!
I don’t want moments like that to just be forgotten moments that had no lasting impact, so I’ve been pondering this question that God has stuck in my brain – “What do I do with this love He has for me?”
He’s been teaching me to embrace it fully so that I am able to walk in confidence as the person He created me to be, and to become more and more like Jesus in the way I live. His love casts out my fears! It enables me to do brave things. It gives me the strength to love others. Not fake love, not selfish love (which isn’t even love in the first place), but REAL love.
Romans 12:9-10
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
For over a year now, this verse has kept on coming back to me, sometimes smacking me in the face, sometimes comforting me. I attempt to live it out and man, love is hard. It inconveniences you and burdens you, but this is what God commands us to do. And He rewards you for it!
What I believe God has been challenging me to do since that moment in Costa Rica is, knowing how He cherishes me, to try and look at everyone through God’s eyes. To think of how much He loves each person I come into contact with – my friends, my siblings, strangers, everyone! I’ve been thinking of people as individuals that Jesus cherishes and WOW has that been revolutionary in my life! It’s been changing the way I treat people, making me think twice about the things I say to people, and stopping judgments on people that I have no place to make.
I am definitely no expert at this and it’s something I am in the process of learning, and will be learning for the rest of my life, no doubt. I have also been experiencing a lot of guilt and regret lately because of the way I’ve treated different people in the past and how I’m continuing to fail in loving others on a day to day basis. BUT, I feel God’s hand at work in my heart and it’s so so comforting to know He won’t leave me alone in this. He’s holding my hand. What a faithful God!
So to YOU, you reading this right now – Jesus cherishes you!!! Just let that soak in! Let it give you strength and joy and confidence, and let it inspire you to love others in the same way!
We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19
