Beloved = Be loved
An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children.
He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part,
but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.
– A. W. Tozer
Things had taken a wrong turn. What I’d intended for good, for peace, ended up misunderstood and in pieces.
I was sad.
This one knew. She asked me an innocent enough question, and when I couldn’t answer without tearing up, she saw.
So she acted. She gave me a gift, a single word–favorite–embedded in a sentence, in a context, that empowered me to feel better.
To feel loved.
“I’m especially fond of you.”
It’s what Papa repeatedly says in The Shack about his children.
All his children. He’s especially fond of each one.
It’s hard to grasp I’m one of God’s favorites. His beloved. With no earning on my part. No deserving. But just because he declares it so.
I’m sister to Beloved Brother. And Father loves us the same (John 17:23).
And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:17
A single word—beloved—but embedded in life, it’s more verb than noun.
It’s what I receive, not what I do.
I allow myself to be loved.
And in the acceptance—in a beautiful miracle of grace—I discover how much I love him back.
He becomes my Beloved.
Be loved, my favorite, my Savior.
My beloved is mine, and I am his . . .
Song of Solomon 2:16
* * *
Do you see yourself as God’s beloved? What has helped you believe that? What has hindered?
Please share in the comments.
“I am especially fond of you.” Lisa, I love this. Thank you.
That phrase is repeated often in ‘The Shack’ and each time, it captured me.
Beautiful post….coming to you from Jennifer Dukes Lee’s page. You are welcome to link you post at my website too. Blessings!
Wasn’t Jennifer’s post today powerful? I love her encouragement that everyone has a story worth sharing. Thanks for stopping by.
love this truth, lisa … all it takes is a sweet word or two, a gentle hug, a shared teardrop, an unspoken prayer. beloved. yes.
I agree, Linda. I think we too often underestimate how valuable and large those “little” things can be to each other.
Excellent heart and post, Lisa. In seeking our Father in study and prayer I find and sense His love from the inside out. It’s when I don’t seek Him I begin to be hindered. The flesh is weak…
“sense His love from the inside out” – beautiful way to put that, Floyd. That’s where it needs to begin. Thanks for so often for getting your insides out to us, brother.
Lisa,
Beloved is more verb than noun…thank you for the reminder of God’s unconditional love for me and how I must receive it…receive as gift…So very grateful for God and for you 🙂
Sometimes I think we think the gift is too good to be true because it’s so grand. So thankful it IS true–and that it brings me sisters like you.
Love this! What helped me was when He said to me distinctly that, “You are mine”, that is, I am His, I belong to Him.
Yes, Cheryl–knowing that we belong to him is a beautiful miracle in itself!
Wow Lisa, that was beautiful! Thank you for the reminder of The Shack. I read that book when it first came out. Ah, we are one of His favorites and we are LOVED.
And thank you for the sweet comment about my new Bible study group. I will meet with them tomorrow morning.
Love and hugs,
Beth
Praying all goes well with your meeting in the morning! I’m sure it will–the Lord’s presence will cover you all. You are his beloved! 🙂 Blessings, my friend.
Interesting how we both blogged today about God’s love. Being God’s beloved is mind-blowing yet so sweet and true. Thank you, Lisa, for sharing God’s sweetness with us today. Blessings!
We were definitely on the same track today, Mari-Anna. I know I can always count on you to be a faithful reminder of God’s love for us. You are always a blessing.
Dear Lisa
After I read The Shack, I went to God asking Him if this was truly how He was. I was adamant for an answer and I cannot begin to describe to you the joy when Pappa started telling and showing me that this is exactly how He is and how He loves. After this book I read the book of Wayne Jacobson, He Loves Me, and my life has never been the same afterwards. Mr Jacobson is one of the two friends of William P Young, author of The Shack, who pooled their resources together to form a publishing company to publish The Shack. You can download Wayne’s book for free from his website, Lifestream. If you haven’t read it already, I cannot recommend this book enough!
Blessings beloved daughter of your Pappa XX
Mia
I’m not surprised at all that you love ‘The Shack’, Mia. I know from reading your blog that you have such an intimate relationship with Pappa. You know his love and grace so well.
So I especially like getting a book recommendation from you. I’ve never heard of ‘He Loves Me’, so I went to his site and downloaded it. And told my sister and niece about it as well because they also love ‘The Shack’. They’ve both recently read and loved ‘The Shack Revisited’, which I’ve ordered and hope to get soon.
Beautiful Lisa, needed to be reminded today of this sweet truth.
I love how the Lord provides what we need when we need it. More evidence that we truly are his beloved…
So lovely. That quote is beautiful, as is your writing. I was drawn to your post via #TellHisStory as I also reflected on the word ‘beloved’ today. Glad to stop by here once again.
Just read your post too. Such a beautiful take on “beloved.” Made me miss my little babies who are both out of the nest.
And I’m especially fond of you as well, Lisa. This post blessed me.
Ditto, Elizabeth. I’m blessed every time I get to visit with you.
I’m so glad that the lady saw and listened and loved you! Isn’t it amazing when we really think of the fact that we are His Beloved without having to do anything? Beautifully written, Lisa. xo
Yes, Dianna, it is amazing to be loved, in all our imperfections, by the One who is perfection himself. Love you!
Oh this is a treasure…. I needed these words today. Thank you for sharing your heart! Heart Hugs, Shelly <3
I’m glad these words reached you, Shelly. They are words I like to remind myself of often too. We are the beloved of our Father–what a gift!
I like this, Lisa! What has helped me is remembering who I am in Christ. I have a list posted on my refrigerator so I am often reminded. Also, friends who genuinely love. I’ve often felt as though I wasn’t worth anyone’s love, and I’m still growing in that.
That’s a great idea, Melissa, to keep a list on your refrigerator. My friend printed out a list for us a couple years ago that I kept out for awhile, but I should put it keep it in a more obvious place too so I’d be reminded more often.
I love this! I forgot about that in the Shack. Especially loved when spending time in his word, praising him, or driving, or sitting at the beach, or loving on my girl. Especially loved when I wake up and plead with him for his love today to love my people with and there’s no immediate answer but I trust him in the quiet.
Hinder? Anxiety, fear, pride (most often my reaction to other people who seem to snub me or misinterpret as you referenced)
That’s odd, because when I’m feeling loved by God (and called to be saints) I have less anxiety, fear, pride… Is it a circle or am I not seeing something deeper about my heart?
I’ve used this comment as therapy time. Thanks for that.
Beth, I’m glad you used this space as therapy time because it’s very useful stuff for me too. 🙂 I love your concrete examples of feeling loved and of feeling hindered. I relate to all of them. I think you’re right in seeing it as a circle–recognizing how loved we are by God will reduce our anxiety, fear, pride, etc. Thank you so much for sharing all this.
Be Loved……got it! Thank you so much for your words.
What a precious and timely gift from your friend. How awesome that it reminded you that you’re God’s favorite. I love the Tozer quote! Thanks for your encouragement, Lisa, and for reminding me of The Shack. That book really touched my heart.
It was a precious gift. And she probably doesn’t realize still just how much it affected me. Sometimes the words we so casually throw out can be life preservers for someone without us even knowing. I love that God is powerful like that!
Thank you Lisa. I am especially fond of you.
The fondness runs both directions, Katie. I’m thankful every time we connect.
It’s what I receive, not what I do…more verb than noun. Love those words. True and hard for me to remember. Thanks.
Hard for me to remember, too, Natalie. I try to take time now several times a week just to do nothing but soak in the realization of God’s love. It’s quite overwhelming.
“as if there were no others”
so hard to conceive, but He asks us to believe it
so vast is His love
may you feel it wrapped tight around you
I feel it wrapped more tightly when I hear beautiful words like yours. Thank you for blessing us with your gift of words aptly spoken.
Just precious and beautiful , Lisa. So true, that slow awakening to His grace, truth and our long awaited – not withheld- love! Sometimes, it is the hardest to receive for us. But, he brings it home. He did for me- and I know we share this prayer- that others would have their own “love breakthrough”.
I love your choice of words, Dawn.
“long awaited–not withheld”
“love breakthrough”
Yes, friend. I pray that prayer for others too and for a deeper realization of it myself. It makes all the difference when we grasp it!
…and allow themselves to be- loved. Sorry, had to complete that thought!
Lisa, I had not had time to comment on this post, so I am back tonight. I am so glad that I did because this encouraged my weary spirit tonight.
Thanks for linking up with Thought-Provoking Thursday last week! 🙂
I love when things like that happen, Lyli. Sometimes I won’t get around to reading someone’s post until days after it’s published, only to discover it’s in that very delayed day that I needed it most. God is good.
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