You Are Not Lovable

You Are Not Lovable
Sept 2, 2013
1 John 4:19  "We love because he first loved us."

You are not loveable, at least that is what you tell yourself.  We all tell ourselves this, that we are not valuable enough to be loved by others and certainly not by ourselves.  This is a common trick by Satan to devalue people in an effort to quench their potential in the Lord.  He fills our head with lies about our self-worth and potential, degrading and diminishing the significance the Lord created in us.  Satan takes your flaws or past failures and sets them up as the image of who you really are, generating a false sense of your present and future value to the Lord.  If he can convince your mind that you have no value, then he can convince you there is no way anyone, especially the Lord, could love you.  But the Lord would say this is the exact opposite of how things work in His mind's eye.

The Lord has never said He would love you based upon your performance or generated production.  He loved you BEFORE you were born.  In fact He even saw your life from beginning to end, BEFORE you were born.  He knew you, your flaws, and your failures BEFORE you even had a chance to live them out.  And yet, in spite of yourself, He decided to love you.  He even proved His love by sending His son to die for your sins, while you were still sinning.  If the Lord can love you before you fail, knowing you will fail, then His love is not predicated on your actions.  His love is based upon you, nothing else.  He loves YOU, not your actions, however good or bad.  He even loves you despite your successes.

If the Lord can love you, filtering out your successes and failures, then it is reasonable to love yourself.  It is OK to love yourself.  In fact, if you don't love yourself, then you are insulting the Lord.  If the Lord says you are loveable, then you are loveable, even if you have personality deficiencies and significant room for growth. He still loves you and you SHOULD love yourself.  Love the way the Lord created you.  Love the unique traits He instilled in you.  Love the special giftings you were born with and the body He gave you.  Love your perspective on life and the desires He placed in you for your future.  Love YOU.

There is no time for self-abatement, whining, or complaining about yourself.  Your current situation, regardless of how dimming it might feel, is not a reflection on your ability to be loved by the Lord or yourself.  The Lord loves you through what you are experiencing right now and He wants you to do the same.  It is also not a time to be arrogant, inflating your self-worth above others, but a time to see yourself in the light of how the Heavenly Father sees you.  He looks on you with love and compassion in His eyes, with tenderness in His heart.  He is filtering out your successes and failures and loving every ounce of you.  If He can love you, then you can certainly love yourself.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Jer 31:3, Rom 5:8, Eph 5:1-2, 2 Thess 2:16