Be-Loved
Yesterday we defined what “Beloved” was.
“Dearly loved, cherished, or held very dear to the heart.”
So what does it mean that we are God’s beloved?
Throughout the Bible we read about those who have been said to be “loved by God” or “God’s beloved,” etc.
At Jesus baptism, we hear God proclaim to all who are there -
“This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22
Again we hear God proclaim on the Mount of Transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” Matthew 17:5.
Why does God called Jesus His “beloved” Son?
Is it because Jesus was obedient? Was it because Jesus loved others beautifully and perfectly?
Or was it simply because Jesus was His Son?
Being a parent, the first time I held my children in my arms after giving birth, I remember feeling a sense of awe and wonder and thinking, “so this is what it means to be loved by God.”
Now my love doesn’t come close to His love, but as I held my baby, and gazed into their eyes, and held their sweet fingers, and felt them breath against me, tears strolling down my cheeks in complete awe and overcome with a love I had never felt before, I knew in that moment, there was nothing they could do to earn my love, they were my beloved, and they always would be, simply because they were mine.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John 3:1 (ESV)
Have you ever realized the word beloved is two words combined?
Be Loved?
Do you see that in those two simple words, as Francis Chan says, “being someone’s beloved is completely passive.”
There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love-
He simply is and does love His children.
There is no striving to earn it, only to receive and rest in it.
How does this encourage your walk with the Lord today?