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Beloved of God
February finds us surrounded by images of infatuation, deep affection and love. Many of these images are intended to get us to spend money - the Valentine’s industrial complex -still, it’s important that we recognize that (outside of the commercialism of Valentine's Day) it feels good being loved and loving somebody.
Our Youth Sunday School has been exploring the word "Beloved,” as it appears in scripture. Why does the Bible refer to us as the beloved of God? What's the difference between “loved” and “beloved?”
In the words of our young people, the difference between loved and beloved is a difference between liked and “like liked.” Said differently, one way to describe the difference between “loved” and “beloved” is as a measure of intensity. To be “beloved” is to be “love loved,” or loved deeply.
When we look at the symbols and signs of Valentine's Day, most often we see images that suggest romantic love. (The Bible uses the Greek word “eros" to describe this kind of love.) But when we buy Valentine's gifts for our children, our parents, or even our pets, we demonstrate that experiencing other types of love feels good, too.
I believe that love feels so good because being loved is our natural state. God's love is with us every moment of our lives. The Bible tells us that God’s loved us before the world existed (Ephesians 1:4) and God's love for us will extend beyond this life to an eternity with him should we choose to accept it (John 3:16). The kind of love that God has for us has a special word in the Greek agape, and there is a special word in English for the recipients of agape: beloved.
To be beloved is to be the recipient of an intense, intimate and unrelenting love. And the love that God has for us has the added benefit of being unconditionally and freely given. It feels good to be loved this way, in part, because God has loved us this way every moment of our existence. Being God’s beloved is who we are!
Parents, spouses, even children can experience agape and know that loving somebody can feel just as good as being loved. As God’s beloved we have an opportunity to receive God's love AND we have an opportunity to give that love back to God. We don’t return this love with chocolates, cards, or flowers, but by loving one another the way that God loves us!
You are God's dearly beloved! Every day, you have a God that loves you so much that He’d sacrifice His life for yours. That’s how intensely God loves you. God’s love and grace are unearned but freely given - and because of this we are redeemed.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice we can spend eternity being loved on by God. But before eternity begins, God gives us the opportunity to love one another and to show God - and each other - how wonderful it feels to be beloved.
Thank God for the good news of God's love!
~jt
John-Thomas Crockett
Dir. of Youth & Family Ministries
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