“Live Loved”  This is quote that I heard a while back and I honestly can’t even remember when or where I originally heard it.  I do remember that there was something about it that just resonated with me.  In our house I have a giant chalkboard that I have used to write inspiring quotes or scripture and this quote is one that has been up the longest.  It’s right at the top of our stairs and I walk by it at least 50 times a day (not an exaggeration).

Just the other day I was reading a devotional I’ve had for years and this verse stuck right our to me.

Jeremiah 31:3 God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.  Expect love, love and more love!”

There is something about this idea of living loved.  What does that truly mean?  In Jeremiah, God tells His people He has never stopped loving them and He never will.  Even in our moments of disobedience, even when we walk away.  His love for us is never changing.  He goes on to say that we should “expect love” and “more love”. This is the part that got me.  In my teen years I dealt with a lot of abandonment.  My parents separated when I was 10 and my dad was absent in my life.  I remember feeling confused, hurt and most of all unloved. Now let me just say, my mom never made me feel that way.  She always stood by me and she truly loved me through some of the hardest seasons in my teen years.  I know I was so hard to deal with and I remember a specific time when I actually told her I hated her.  I had allowed the hurt in my life to take control and it turned into anger and rebellion to the one person who did nothing wrong.  I think back on those days and cringe at how awful I was to her. Though it all my mom loved me unconditionally.  Even when I was at my worst she always saw the best.  She spoke truth over me when all I could see were the lies.  Through it all I knew deep down that no matter what I did, she was always going to love me.  Nothing is did was ever going to make my mom love me any less.  I knew I could always EXPECT love from her.

This is the same with God.  From the very beginning, even before He spoke light into existence, God has loved us.  As we read through the Bible we see stories of the ups and downs in humanities relationship with God and through is all, God has always worked to bring His children back to Him.  That was His goal from the beginning and it hasn’t changed.  He created the garden in Genesis to be close to his creation and through our own sin we were separated from our Father.  We see the death of Jesus, God’s only son.  It’s in this act that true love is demonstrated.  That Jesus laid down his life so we could live for all eternity with our Father.

Fast forward to today.  God’s love hasn’t changed for us.  He still loves us as much today as he did at the creation of Earth.  He is always pursuing us always calling us back to Him.

So what does it mean to live love?  To me it means to live in freedom.  To know that my life is not based on performance but instead it’s to be loved by a God who has love me since before the beginning of time.  I walk in that love and know that nothing else matters.  Understanding just how much God loves me makes all else seem worthless.  I no longer search for my identity because I know who God says I am.  I am his beloved daughter.  I no longer perform for the approval us other because God sees me and he is the only audience I care about.  I live to love God and to share that love with the world.