Beloved part 1
This Rant series is a continuation of the last one, focusing on the sense of belonging that comes from knowing that, well, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine..." (Song of Solomon 6:3). But instead of zeroing in on who belongs to who, I want to highlight what that belonging means. And it is, in a word, "beloved." It's not about someone controling someone else. I saw a t-shirt once that said, "Jesus is my boss." And I thought to myself, "No... Jesus is my LIFE." It's not about obeying rules and laws or else. It's about the perfect law of liberty. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Sin and death is the bondage that we were in before the cross. And then we were brought out of life and into death. The difference, of course, being love. When you know (and believe) that you are loved... you can love. To live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other because they are the same thing. But you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So before we can release the love of God, we have to receive it. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. Because while receiving comes first, it's not the be-all end-all. It's step one. And that's where "beloved" comes in. Because if you break the word apart it literally means BE loved. And that's one of the most important things we will ever do; allowing ourselves to BE loved by our heavenly Father. Believing the truth about God (which is also the truth about us). We are His and He is ours. I am my BELOVED'S and He is mine... See, Luke 3:38 identifies Adam as the son of God. But the difference between Adam and Jesus is NOT that God loved Jesus and not Adam. God loved (loves) them both. That's not just what God does. That's who God is. The difference is that Jesus is God's BELOVED Son. The difference is that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. The love receptor that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth of who we are. The truth that as He is, so are we in this world. The truth that if Jesus is God's beloved Son... then WE are God's beloved Son. He is our true identity. What's true about Jesus is true about us. We just have to know it, and believe it. We have to let God love us, instead of trying to earn His love. We have to let ourselves BE loved. My favorite song is, "How He Loves." Because I think it has the right focus. How HE loves US. We love because He FIRST loved us. Unless we know and believe His love, we don't have anything to give. (Except bitterness, and pain, and fear, and hurt, I mean.) But when we let ourselves be loved... that love fills us to overflowing. And it comes out naturally. I am His, and He is mine. My beloved. His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased!