Loved As You Are

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

On the morning of Picture Day, I found myself standing over my preschooler, who was sprawled across the carpet in utter despair. You see, I had laid out his blue-checked button-down shirt and khaki pants only to be told on a sob that he’d already picked his outfit.

“What clothes would make you feel the most handsome today, Jon?” I asked gently, rubbing his back. His whispered response between hiccupping breaths made me cringe: “My pocketless pants and my sleeveless shirt.” In other words, my son wanted to wear his ratty muscle shirt and a pair of athletic pants with a red racing stripe and a weird shimmer.

Biting back my dismay, I agreed. And with that, he scampered up the stairs and out of sight. He returned in record time dressed like a 1980s miscreant minus only the mullet, his face alight with a megawatt grin.

His school photos from that year are a bizarre juxtaposition of a dapper pose and an outfit better suited to that quintessential ’80s movie, The Breakfast Club. But looking past the clothes and pose, you see a young man who is absolutely, unequivocally delighted. That picture has become one of my favorites because it captures perfectly the essence of Jon at age almost five.

Just as I love that picture for its authenticity, our heavenly Father loves us—the real us, the core of us, without any pretense, ruse, or mask. We are the recipients of unmerited, unconditional love. He meets us where we are, having sent his beloved Son to die for our sins, creating a way back into an intimate relationship through repentance and forgiveness.

Embracing the truth of today’s verse can feel surreal. But it’s as simple as a prayerful, heartfelt thank-you to God that we are not the mistakes we make, and we are not the worst moment of our life. We are beloved and have intrinsic value no matter what the world would say about us or how it would calculate our value against worldly standards.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Meditate on the truth of Romans 5:8. How does that truth change the way you see yourself? How does it change the way you see others?