Fully Loved

One of my favorite memories from childhood is the Valentine’s Day when I was about ten years old. I was with my mom at the pharmacy picking up some medication when I spotted every little girl’s dream gift in 1995…a troll! She had bright pink hair, a shiny pink jewel in her belly, and she was wearing a pink jogging suit; she was perfect! I hugged her so tight and then quickly went and told my mom all about it and BEGGED her for it. I was kindly told that we wouldn’t be getting that beautiful, wonderful, must-have troll and I slumped dramatically, in 10-year-old fashion. I walked back to the shelf to hug her one more time and say my farewells…but she was GONE! Someone had bought her while I was begging my mother for her and I was devastated…I may have even cried a little. On the morning of Valentine’s Day, I walked downstairs hoping for some chocolate and a card from my mom and instead found that pink haired friend waiting for me on the kitchen table. I melted and screamed and swooned all at the same time! My mom’s generosity toward me that day made me feel loved and remembered and seen beyond my hopes or expectations. It created in me an excitement for this love filled holiday!

This holiday is so very full of emotion for almost every one…whether good or bad. It is a day where we either feel incredibly loved or radically rejected, thoughtfully remembered or simply forgotten, wildly invisible or noticeably seen. It is a day of emotion that can quickly turn us sideways if we forget the most foundational truth of our lives.

We are more loved and remembered and seen by Jesus than we will ever be rejected or forgotten or unseen by humanity.

When we so highly invest our emotions in the behavior of people we only set ourselves up to be disappointed by our unreasonable expectations. No person can fully love you in the way you need to be loved. No person can perfectly remember everything you deem important. No person can intricately see all that there is inside of you. No single person can be for you what Jesus is intended to be to you.

Jesus exists to be the lover of your soul, to remember intimately every detail of your life, and to see clearly all of the intricacies of you...so much so that He gave His very life for the beauty of you. He is intended to be everything you will ever need, from now into eternity.

The intricate workings and details of who you are were always designed to be fully satisfied in Christ alone. When we seek intimate love from people in place of Him we sabotage ourselves and our relationships.

The people that we choose to invest in and that we allow to invest in us are intended to be blessings poured on top of a foundation that is set and secure because of Christ. Simply stated, Jesus is the perfect cake that meets every desire we have and the relationships we choose in addition to Him are the icing that makes being loved even sweeter.

Perhaps dear friend, if you feel unloved or unnoticed or unseen today it is because you are hoping to be loved perfectly by imperfect people, which just doesn’t add up. Instead, realize that the people around you might be loving you the best they can and the deficit is not in them but in your expectations of them. Shift your desires and your hopes off of people and onto Jesus and you will always be satisfied in His love.

Take the pressure of meeting all of your needs, satisfying all of your desires, and providing all of your joy off of the ones you love and place it on the only One who can fully be what you need.

We have to remember every single day to have realistic expectations of the ones we love and of ourselves as givers of love. We must stay rooted in the love of our Savior so that we don’t expect more of other people than they can reasonably provide or more of ourselves than is healthy to provide. Psalm 16:11 is written on my bathroom mirror so that each day I can personally remember where my joy and pleasure come from. It beautifully says “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” and I encourage you to put it in plain sight today.

Sweet friends, let yourselves be fully loved today by the One who can bring joy and pleasure forevermore and therefore, free yourself to be satisfied with the people in your life who just might be loving you with all that they have.

© Dani Hardy (February 13, 2019)

References:

“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16: 11 Holy Bible