A friend recommended that I purchase the book “Psalms of a laywoman” written by Edwina Gateley. I had not read any of Gateley’s work before, but I have found myself immersed in her Psalms, they seem to speak to the heart and give a voice to some of my deepest emotions.
There is one Psalm that I am finding both challenging and encouraging at the same time. It is called “Let Your God Love You.” These some thoughts that I have put together as I have reflected on that Psalm.
“Let God love you” sounds like a simple statement, almost a cliché, but to actually live it and experience it is hard. For me, it has meant attempting to lay down the exhausting burden of trying to earn what has already been offered. It means accepting that, before you achieved anything, before you succeeded or failed, before you got everything right or wrong, you were already loved.
The challenge is that many of us struggle to receive. We are comfortable giving, serving, and sacrificing, but receiving can make us feel vulnerable. We wonder if we deserve such kindness. Yet God’s love has never been based on our performance. It is rooted in His character.
When we let God love us, something remarkable happens. Fear begins to lose its grip. Shame starts to fade. The need to constantly prove ourselves diminishes. We discover that accomplishments no longer define us. Our identity is found in being children of a loving Father.
Letting God love you also changes the way you love others. When your heart is filled from an endless source, you no longer love out of obligation or emptiness. You love from abundance. The grace you receive becomes the grace you extend.
Perhaps today, God is not asking you to do more. Perhaps He is inviting you to rest. To stop striving for a moment. To sit quietly in His presence and hear the truth that has always been there:
You are loved.
Not because you earned it.
Not because you deserve it.
Not because you have everything worked out.
You are loved because God is love.
So take a deep breath and release the pressure.
Let go of the need to prove yourself.
Open your heart to the One who knows you completely and loves you fully.
Today, simply let God love you.
Sometimes the greatest act of faith is trusting that God’s love has already found you.