Beloved

My dear friends, 

There's something important that I think you need to know: you are beloved. Greatly loved. Dear to the heart. I know it may not feel like it, but I'm telling you, you are loved. I wouldn't lie about a thing like this. 

Far too often we rely on family, friends, and significant others to make us feel greatly loved. And while they certainly do love us a lot, no matter how hard they try, they seem to fall short of the kind of love we're looking for. So we keep looking and looking for that someone or something to fill the void in our hearts. Who is it? What is it? What will make the emptiness and brokenness go away? 

For a long time, I chased the people and things that I thought would fill my heart. I didn't even realize I was doing it. I chased dreams of a perfect GPA, followed by a successful career. I chased dreams of getting married and having a family. I was looking for the "missing piece" in all the wrong places. It wasn't until the world I had built fell apart that I realized that the things I was chasing would never fulfill me. And it wasn't until I recognized who I am in Christ that I truly understood that the Lord is the only one who can truly fill the void in my heart. 

This is who you are in Christ:

You are a child of God.
(How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! - 1 John 3:1)

You are forgiven.
(He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. - 1 Peter 2:24)

You are washed clean.
(Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. - Isaiah 1:18)

You are free.
(It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves by burdened again by a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1)

You are righteous.
(God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21)

You are chosen and set apart.
(But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. - 1 Peter 2:9)

You are a sweet aroma.
(For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. - 2 Corinthians 2:15)

You are never alone.
(The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. - Deuteronomy 31:8)

You are a masterpiece.
(For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10)

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
(I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Psalm 139:14)

You are strong.
(Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. - Ephesians 6:10)

You are a light.
(You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. - Matthew 5:14)

You are called.
(He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. - 2 Timothy 1:9)

You are beloved.
("I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.  - Jeremiah 31:3)

Friends, may you find peace and rest in the truth of your identity in Christ. What a sweet comfort it is to know that he is the one who will fulfill us, fill the void in our hearts, and love us with an everlasting love. Believe it, lean on it, and allow this truth to set your heart free. 

With love, 

Erin