A big smile lit up my face as I dashed over to my team. Usually I dreaded those school-yard picks from middle school gym class. But not this time! This time was different. This time I was selected. I was not left awkwardly standing alone as one of the leftovers. I was not forced on someone’s team because I was the only choice left. Nope. This time I had been chosen! And…it…felt… pretty… great!
My heart leaped with joy and a new sense of confidence surged within me because I was wanted. I belonged. I mattered to the team and someone recognized my value. I had a new spring in my step and a fresh outlook on my day. It’s amazing how just one small moment of feeling loved and accepted could change the trajectory of my entire day.
What about you? Do you remember a significant moment like that? That one time when your entire day was made simply because someone chose you?
Fast forward about 20 years. While we may not be faced with those unpleasant, 8th grade, school-yard picks, perhaps we are longing to find our worth in a million other ways. Maybe we’re waiting for that person we’ve tried to connect with to choose us as their friend. Maybe we’re longing for that employer to choose us for the position we’ve worked so hard for. Maybe we’re wishing for our boss to choose the brilliant ideas we presented to him, and maybe even give us that promotion. Maybe we’re hoping for that person we care so much about to choose us for their partner in life.
It’s our human nature. We all want to feel valued. We all yearn to be known. We all desire others to see our worth and our potential. And above all, we crave love and we long to be chosen.
I don’t have any special credentials to share anything profound with you today. In fact, I’m probably not going to tell you anything you haven’t heard a thousand times before. But I’m here to remind you again of a beautiful truth. One so lovely that if you fully believed it with all your heart and embraced it with all your being, it truly would change the trajectory of your entire life.
Maybe today you need to be reminded that someone values you and that you belong. Maybe you need to hear one more time that you are fully known and deeply loved. Maybe you need to remember that you have already been chosen and will be chosen every single time by One who is greater. And because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, maybe you need to be reminded of the greatest valentine that was ever given.
That valentine is the perfect, immeasurable, unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
I John 4:8b says that “God is love.” In other words, God equals love. We must look to Him as the perfect example of true love because it’s who He is. It’s His nature. It’s the very essence of His being. And that amazing love spills over into His care for each and every one of us.
I often hear people say that love is a choice. I never fully understood that truth until I stood back in awe from the awesome, unfailing example set by Jesus Christ.
Love is a daily commitment to lay aside the interests of ourselves to first pursue the interests of others. It’s a daily sacrifice to relegate our own comforts as secondary to put the comforts of those we care about first. It’s a daily decision to accept others at their best as well as at their worst. It’s a daily choice to see past others’ shortcomings to embrace the good. Love chooses the other exactly as they are.
That’s exactly what Jesus Christ has done for us:
- He put aside His own interests, to put our interests first.
- He gave up every comfort, to put our needs above His own.
- He fully accepted us not just at our best, but also at our absolute worst.
- He chose to see past our mistakes to focus on the good.
- We had nothing to give to Him, but He gave everything for us.
- We tried to earn our worth, but He said, “You are already enough.”
- We tried to show our value, but He said, “You already belong.”
- We sought to be acknowledged, but He said, “I already see you and you are fully known.”
You see, God’s love does not need to be earned. We don’t have to struggle to show our worth. We don’t have to outdo someone else to be chosen by Him. We don’t need to showcase our abilities to demonstrate that we are enough. He already proved our infinite worth with His death on the cross. Isaiah 53:5 (ESV) says, “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.” In all our shortcomings, He chose us. And Him choosing us had absolutely nothing to do with our own achievements. Rather, it had everything to do with His unconditional love.
John 15:16a (ESV) is a beautiful reminder of that truth as Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” Now THAT is true love. We never have to wonder again if we will be chosen. He chose us and desires a relationship with us. The scars on His hands and feet prove that He wants us as part of His family. To Him, we are infinitely valued and we always belong.
We can search the world for as long as we live for a love we think will give us all the validation and acceptance we’ve been longing for. But nothing on this earth can ever complete us. All we’ve ever needed can be found in the loving arms of our Savior.
A while back I remember tears streaming down my face as I drove home from work one day. It had been a bad day. I felt like a failure in my position at work. I didn’t feel like my voice was heard. And on top of that a relationship that I had worked so hard for seemed to be falling apart. I was searching for acceptance, trying to believe my worth.
The song “Better” by Pat Barrett came over Christian radio. The chorus says:
“Your love is better than life.
You are the well that won’t run dry.
I have tasted and I have seen.
Oh, You are better than all these things.”
In that moment, Jesus reminded me that if He was all I had, He could be all I need. I want to encourage you today that Jesus is the well that never ever runs dry. His love is better than life itself. He is better than anything we can possibly imagine.
Romans 5:8 (ESV) says, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He proved our worth by sacrificing His life for us. He sees us. He knows us. He gives us value on the “team.” His love chose us and will continue to choose us every single time. And THAT, my friends, is so much better than any other acceptance we are seeking after. It’s a pure, radiantly authentic, counter-culture kind of love. It has no hidden agenda. It keeps no record of wrongs. It is not selective. It always protects. It is patient. It pursues us. It is sacrificial. And it has no end. That is the greatest valentine ever given.
And the best part is that when we begin to fully embrace the limitless love of God, we can begin to share it in its purest form to change the world around us!
