Be Loved

Well God is certainly moving and living in Guatemala!

I have been struggling with what to write in this blog post- whether to talk about the work we are doing, the people we are meeting, what God is teaching, etc. There has been so much good packed into these first two weeks and I feel so grateful to be a witness to it. I will also try to get better about posting more blogs about what is going on because I really want to tell you guys everything!

What was on my heart to write about today though is much more important. It is not very insightful but it is essential for everyone to know. For whatever reason, it has taken me a long time for my mind and heart to get here. Im sure I’m not the only person who has struggled with this so I hope this post gets you thinking. 

I’ve always believed that spreading love is the purpose of our lives. This is unbelievably filling but its not really it. I remember talking to a christian mentor in high school and saying, “I thought I understood the purpose to life but it doesnt always fulfill me. Isn’t the purpose of life to love God and love others??” He smiled and kind of chuckled. He replied, “well yes, but thats only half of it! The main purpose of life is to love and to be loved.”

God wants to be in an intimate relationship with each and everyone of us. More than anything, a relationship with God means that you love Him (and your life reflects that) and that you are loved by Him. 

God loves each of us (ALL PEOPLE) perfectly, more than we can ever know. His love for us is written all throughout the bible. We will never deserve His love but He will never stop wanting to give it. We cant make Him love us more through actions because He already chose to love us infinitely (Ephesians 2:4-9). Another cool thing is that God shows this love to each of us differently, simply because we all receive love differently. 

We must know what love is and we must know what it looks like for us to be loved. A friend had our group reflect on a question: how do you feel loved by God? Essentially how does God show you today that he loves you today?

At the time, I was unable to answer this question because I didn’t know how God shows me He loves me. I had an idea of what love is supposed to look like (1 Cor 13) but I was unsure of how God show this to me regularly. Its also different to know in your head that God loves you and to truly experience and understand how the things in our lives are expressions of Gods love to us. It is important we take the time to understand how to experience the Love that God is giving and wants to show us. 

I felt like God was speaking to me, through my friend, and telling me I need to be on the lookout for how He is showing me His love for me. He is showing it all the time but are we honestly letting ourselves see it and rest in it? 

When the question was asked to my friend, she came up with an answer- how she personally felt loved by God. Not more than a few hours later, God showed up and showed her His love for her in the exact way she had mentioned earlier that day. 

God shows love to each person in so many different ways but we need to be on the lookout for it. He wants to love on us and He wants us to know the love He has for each one of us. I encourage you to think about that question and talk to God about how you can recognize the love that He has for you and that He wants to constantly show you. God loves all of you, no matter what, allow him to show you. 

John 15: 9-11

With love,

Jackson