You Are Loved
To be loved is one of the greatest feelings anyone can experience. Somebody that cares for you, sacrifices areas of their life for you, wants the absolute best for you, and will walk with you through thick or thin is something magical. But sometimes, we feel unlovable; unfortunately, it's a falsified feeling that many of us struggle with. I deal with this heavily and have for a very long time.
For most of my life, I've always told myself that earning it was the only way to be loved. Whether that's through my actions, how I handle situations or my performance in baseball, it had to be earned. This mode of thinking led to many issues within myself. When you believe love is earned, you will find yourself without love. We, as humans, aren't perfect. If we expect to earn love day in and day out, we will find loveless days more often than days filled with love. We can't expect imperfect people to gain something perfect through the means of imperfect things. Unconditionally love is perfect; it's something that we almost can't comprehend. It's of God, not us.
When this philosophy matures within us, it becomes a part of who we are. Day by day, unsure if we were worthy of being loved. This false ideology can kill a person. This sense of being unlovable is a leading cause of depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
So how do we fix our mindset? It starts by humbly loving yourself. When you begin to love yourself, you look in the mirror, see yourself for what you are, and be happy with what you see. Next, you begin to work harder at yourself and rejoice in the improvements you are making. Next thing you know, you start attracting more people around you because you shed a joy many people don't understand. Then, you become unrecognizable to yourself. Looking back a few months prior, you'll be shocked at who you were and what you've become. Lastly, you begin to realize that all your good and bad parts are beyond deserving of love. You are uniquely and wonderfully made.
So how does one truly fall in love with oneself? How does the imperfect unconditionally love the imperfect person that they are? Well, they can't. Only the perfect can show the imperfect how to truly and unconditionally fall in love with themselves or to love like that in general. To fully understand the art of loving yourself, I firmly believe that you must have felt and experienced Jesus's love for you. Let me describe Jesus's love for you, and tell me if anyone on this planet can replicate it. Jesus Christ, the creator of all, the all-powerful being, subjected himself to pain, torment, humiliation, ridicule, and one of the most brutal deaths imaginable, for you. You could be someone who follows him without a second thought, or you could be someone who mocks him daily. He didn't and doesn't care. His love for you is so great that he willingly pours it onto you no matter who you are or what you've done; you just have to accept it. Nobody on this planet can replicate that type of unconditional love. So how could you genuinely fall in love yourself without knowing and feeling the perfect kind of love that Jesus has to offer?
All in all, you are loved. If you don't feel that from other people know that Jesus, somebody you may or may not believe in, loves you more than you can even comprehend. When you begin to feel and slightly understand his love for you, you'll fall in love with yourself, Jesus's beautiful creation. You'll realize that you are his perfect creation. He has so miraculously and meticulously put together everything about you. So why hate yourself? As I've said in prior posts, you shouldn't be here. It makes no sense that any of us, or life itself, even exists. If gravity throughout the universe was slightly more, we'll all collapse into a black hole, and if it were somewhat less, we would be aimlessly roaming throughout space; if our planet were slightly closer or further away from the sun, it'd either be too cold or too hot to harbor life. So you're telling me that all that is just a coincidence? I think not. You were put here for a reason by a loving God who wants nothing more than to pour out his love onto you, so you can begin to love yourself, love life, and attract people worth attracting to love you in your own life.
Today I pray that you begin to realize Jesus's love for you. I hope that you feel the unimaginable peace and comfort it brings. I pray that you start to love yourself and see the beauty in you and your life. Shine your light today, love others, and be kind. Lastly, smile; you woke up today. You are worth it; you are loved.
Trevor Crowder
