When You Wonder If You’re Loveable

Dear God,

I come to You with a prayer, a confession–

I’m such a two-faced spiritual klutz. I’m saved, but I stumble. You made me a saint, but I’m ever the sinner. I am, indeed, the wretch the song refers to.

But You, God? You keep loving me anyway.
Even back when.
Back then.
Back before it all.
Back before I ever thought to love you back, You loved me.

And You still do. Not because of some law, some written code, some strict adherence on my part.

I seriously had NOTHING to do with this.

You love me, simply because You love me. You made my heart. And you decided in advance to love it. PreApproved… 

The mirrors of the world make us forget about the miracle of what you’ve done with our hearts. You’ve told us that mirrors are poor judges. A person can look in the mirror or the inbox or the bank account or the offering plate, and if things look good, life is good. And if things look bleak, well . . . life seems bleak. I heard You say it loud to my knower: Stop. Looking. In. The. Mirrors. They are horrible indicators of reality.

Yeah, mirrors reflect a false truth sometimes.

I do want to reflect You.

I’ve lived otherwise. I’ve paid too much attention to mirrors—and to glitter. There’s a lot of glitter in the world. And there are a thousand ways to count shiny things: followers, Facebook friends, @mentions, and invitations. There’s only One Way that ever really mattered.

Lord, help me follow that Way.

There are also a thousand ways to measure if a lowly mortal is insignificant: especially if she’s been overlooked, overmatched, overburdened, overtopped. I want to be so over that.

There’s always someone out there telling us we’ve got to have a bigger voice and a better house, more influence and less mess.

You know it already, Lord, but let me say it out loud here: The world tells me to be all the things that end in Y: funny, pretty, skinny, witty. I’ll turn it all upside-down, and chase after the One whose name begins with Y. You, Yahweh.

You know what, Lord? I’ve been mesmerized by all my shortcomings. I confess that to You. But . . . here’s the thing about You, Yahweh. Here’s the amazing thing about Your still-amazing grace. You take our chins in Your nail-scarred hands, and You lift our eyes to You.

I see You.

And it’s so good to be seen by You.

You are the God Who Sees, my El Roi. And we all want to be seen, I suppose? To know that we matter? You made it that way, but our impulse is to seek affirmation outside of You.

Change my impulses.

Let me hear You whisper again to me:

“You. Matter.”

And let me believe it’s true.

Amen….

 

“Jesus Loves Me” by Chris Tomlin

“Jesus … He loves me, He loves me, He is for me
Jesus … How can it be? He loves me, He is for me”

 

This post is part of our month-long series, “A November to Remember: Seeing Yourself Through God’s Eyes.

How You Can Be a Part of This Movement:

1 – Print out the Scripture sheets. (Click here for printable versions.) Each of the 30 daily Scriptures are quoted in Love Idol, and each one ties back in some way to our identity in Christ. (You don’t have to read the book to participate in this study. But of course, you’re welcome to! 

 )

2 – Find the passage assigned for today’s date.

3 – Consider how God is speaking to you. How does the verse help you remember who you really are, outside of all the cultural noise?

4 – Visit us on the blog, or the Love Idol movement page on Facebook, to share what the verse means to you.

5 – Share your insights on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or your blog, to add more soul to your scroll. #MoreSoulLessScroll 

 Tag me, so I can find you. (Or feel free to follow along silently! No social-media presence required.)

I’ll post my own response here on the blog every morning at 5 a.m. Sometimes, you’ll find a story, maybe a few short words, maybe a series of photos. That will happen every day, for all of November, God-willing.

Follow Along

If you want to follow along, visit us here every day. Consider subscribing to my blog by clicking here to get these reflections in your email inbox.

The Printables
(Download for printing from Google Drive)

Let this be the November that we remember who we really are: Loved. Preapproved. His.

Find all the posts in the November to Remember series by clicking here.