Beloved

Romans 1:7: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a great word: "Beloved." I just had to look it up ...

Beloved

As an adjective: dearly loved, admired, cared for, cherished, darling, dear, dearest, doted on, endeared, esteemed, favorite, hallowed, highly regarded, highly valued, loved, pet, pleasing, popular, precious, prized, respected, revered, sweet, treasured, venerated, well-liked, worshiped ...

As a noun: angel, apple of my eye, darling, dearest, favorite, honey, light of one's life, loved one, object of one's affections, pet, sweetheart, the pet, treasure ...

Supposedly ... I am beloved by Him … by God … the Great I Am, Mighty Warrior, Wonderful, Counselor, and so on. Somehow that doesn’t sink in. Me, beloved? I say it to myself every once in a while "You are My beloved." Feels foreign and weird. Put my name in front of it and it is even more uncomfortable Tim, YOU are MY beloved. Wow. Not sure how to handle that. When I think about what I consider beloved, my children, my wife ... I can’t even express the depth of my love for them. Yes, I care about a ton of people, but "immeasurable" love pretty much only goes to those I mentioned. What it gets down to ...

If God knows me as well as He says He does, how can I possibly be His beloved? He knows what I was thinking about at work this afternoon. E-Gads! He was there when I told that joke, when I lost my temper ... when I lied ... I have done the unthinkable (or at least thunk about doing it!). I just can’t grasp that I am His beloved. I can’t believe it. I wonder what would happen to my life, my heart, my family if I really got hold of that. I mean permanently and securely ... not just a glimpse every now and then.

Anyone else feel that way? Anyone believe it?

Thoughts on a Tuesday morning ....