Like, Or Love?

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

In these days of Twitter and Trending, Facebook and Likes, there seem to be ever more opportunities to feel adored or abandoned.  But here’s a question – if a lot of people like something, does that genuinely make it more valuable?  And what about the opposite – if a scarce few people like something, does that make it worth little or even less?

I can’t help but thinking that with all the chances to google our names, check how many friends we have on our social networks, even keep up with how many people are visiting our blogs, we are missing something hidden, something deeper and much more relevant.  I’m not sure that numbers, big numbers are a very good indicator of real value.

A mother could dedicate her whole life to looking after the son who came home from the war with no means to look after himself, a father could take a second job to help with his daughter’s college fees, a child could care for a sick parent or a family could move half way across the world to look after babies who have no family of their own.

And what about you?  You could love someone, really love them.  Maybe you don’t have 400 Facebook friends or your own TV show, but who you are and what you do is, in truth, much more valuable than that.  You could be a great friend, an attentive lover, faithful or brave.  You could have endured when others may have walked away, you may have forgiven despite the temptation to stay bitter. Perhaps you always leave people feeling better about themselves. Maybe you stayed right there, until the end.

In the privacy of your own home, when you turn off all the electronic distractions and are quiet, do you know that you are loved, that your life has great worth? God is head over heels in love with you.  Just as you are. He sees all the details of your life, all your value, the good that you do or think.  Oh, you may say, but He also sees my faults, the good I don’t do or think.  But my friend, why not hush your inner critic and allow yourself in this moment simply to be loved, just as you are.  God loves you like this:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 14 v4-8, NIV

It is easy in this world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own.  But God sees your life and mine so differently, He is not interested in how popular we are and we cannot do anything to make Him love us more. We do not have to be the best in show, top of the pile, most gorgeous, first past the post, head and shoulders above the rest.

When we spend too much time looking on the surface, maybe we are missing something hidden, something deeper and much more relevant. An oak tree starts life as an acorn hidden in the dirt.  Nobody would even know it was there.  But contained within that tiny, hidden thing are all the makings of beauty, might, splendour and shelter.  The little acorn simply takes a lifetime to become all that it was always meant to be.

You cannot calculate your own worth.  Numbers cannot do justice to value.  Love is kind, it honours, it rejoices in the truth.  Love forgives, protects, hopes and trusts.  Popularity may come and go but love never fails. So I whisper again, can you allow yourself in this moment to be loved, just as you are?

Tagged as: 1Corinthians 13, abandoned, about love, about you, Encouragement, God, Gods love, Inspiration, Jesus, like or love, love is, popularity, you are loved