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Beloved, Allow Yourself to Be Loved: Embracing God’s Unconditional Grace

 

Beloved, Allow Yourself to Be Loved

"To the praise of the glory of God's grace, who has accepted all of us in the Beloved."  Ephesians 1:6

"Celebrating diversity and love in community"


   God completely accepts you. When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he proclaimed that we are accepted in the Beloved. That means you are not only seen by God but fully embraced. God knows your thoughts before you think them and still loves you. God knows your words before you speak them and still loves you. God knows your actions before you take them and still loves you. You are God’s beloved. You are the apple of God’s eye. God can't get enough of you. God can't stop thinking about you. Why? Because God loves you with a perfect, unconditional, everlasting love. A love that doesn’t fluctuate based on your performance or behavior.

   Beloved, allow yourself to be loved. Open your heart and your mind and recognize that you are worthy of love. You deserve love. Immerse yourself in God’s love. Believe in it. Receive it. Embrace it. Let no lie spoken over your life convince you otherwise. No matter who told you that you were unlovable, God loves you with a perfect love that cannot be increased or decreased. This love is not based on what you do it’s based on who God is. And that is why we praise Him. That is why we worship. That is why we uplift and extol His name. Because God’s grace makes love possible for all of us.

   Our light and our darkness, our good and our evil, our strengths and our weaknesses all are wrapped in His love. When we allow ourselves to be loved, we begin to truly love God, ourselves, and others. As we realize our identity as the Beloved, our capacity to love expands and overflows. Love often begins with tolerance. When we are intolerant, we’re not walking in love. Racism, prejudice, and discrimination are rooted in intolerance. But real love often starts with simply tolerating those who are different. “I will deal with you, forbear you, tolerate you.” That may be the starting point, but love grows from there.

   As we mature in faith and grow in consciousness, we move from tolerance to acceptance. We learn to say, “I accept you. I can’t change you. I’m not trying to. I accept the unique, unrepeatable expression of God that you are.” Acceptance doesn’t wish things were different. Acceptance acknowledges God's image in others. Then comes celebration. As we keep expanding in God’s love, we reach a place where we don’t just tolerate or accept, we celebrate. We rejoice in the authenticity, diversity, and beauty of those around us. “I will dance at your party. I will sing at your wedding. I will celebrate you because you are a reflection of God and in celebrating you, I celebrate me.”

"To the praise of the glory of God's grace, who has accepted all of us in the Beloved."  Ephesians 1:6

   So, where are you on the spectrum?

  • Tolerance
  • Acceptance
  • Celebration

   Name a place where you feel completely accepted. And then, strive to become that place for someone else. Let love grow.

📖 Reflection: Where are you on the love spectrum—tolerance, acceptance, or celebration? What would it look like to take one step forward in love today?

💡 Action Step: Ask God to show you one person this week you can move from tolerating to accepting—or from accepting to celebrating.

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