Beloved by God

“Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, “Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody.” … [My dark side says,] I am no good… I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.” ― Henri Nouwen 

Psalm 42:8 "By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life."

Zeph 3:17 "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."

John, one of the disciples of Jesus, was known as the “beloved disciple” and was refer as “the one whom Jesus loved.” Jesus was most often recorded as being with his three close friends - Peter, John and John’s brother James. John was one of Jesus’ closes friends, and he (like you) is described as the one whom Jesus loves. 

In your mind, picture the following... Scripture described John as reclining on the chest of Jesus. Pause for a moment and reflect on that. The one whom Jesus loved was found reclining on the chest of Jesus. Will you allow your imagination to see yourself reclining on the chest of Jesus too?  Ponder on John’s capacity to receive the love that the Lord had for him.

Ask God to increase your capacity to receive His love. 

John “the one whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23) founded a community that would go on to teach at length the profound love of God. I can’t help but wonder how much of this belovedness, this identity as the beloved, the one whom Jesus loved, is a function of John’s capacity and willingness to receive the Love that was offered to him. Let that sink in for a few moments.

1 John 4: 12-21 "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."

1 John suggests that God is Love, that to love another is to know God and that when we love, God dwells within us. (v 7, v16). What do you love? Who do you love? How do you love? Can you sense the presence of God vibrating within that love?

Being the Beloved forms the core truth of why we are here.  Why God created us. How is that true in your life and what needs to change so that the truth that you are God’s Beloved reigns true in your heart and soul?

If you are in Christ, you are beloved of God. Paul addresses the Christians in Rome as “beloved of God,” (Romans 1:7 “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”) Paul addresses them as people set apart by the fact that in Christ they are loved by God. They needed to know the truth that they were loved by God. So do we.

Deut. 33:12 “The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.” 

John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” 

Eph 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”