Your Daily Reminder to: Live Loved!

So I just wanted to hop on here to first of all say that what I am writing will definitely not be perfect. I just wanted to talk to y'all about this amazing book I’m reading and how to live loved through the eyes of God. I made it my goal this summer to read at least 3 faith-based books since it can be easy to lose strength in your faith while away from college. A dear friend of mine recommended this book called “Uninvited” by Lysa TerKeurst. Throughout the book, the author calls us to model our life after a specific phrase: “Live Loved.” Seeing as though my blog is called “Living a Lovely Way,” I thought this was pretty fitting to write about. So, let's get into it: Live Loved.

It’s easy to live loved when you FEEL loved. However, it’s those days that you feel lonely, anxious, and piled up with stress that living loved is most difficult to implement. Maybe you can relate, but I am definitely a people pleaser and unfortunately, many of my days are dictated by the moods of others. If I run into someone at a coffee shop, and they don’t give me their biggest smile, I sit there wondering if what I said was weird or if I offended them. Little did I know that they were perfectly fine and my day was just put in a spiral because I let my thoughts jump to conclusions. This is not living loved for God but allowing myself to put my identity in others. It is comforting to know that while people’s views of me might shift, God’s view is forever still.

“He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

God loves YOU. Gosh, how amazing is it to hear that He delights in you. To live loved, we must live from a place of being loved, reflecting the love God has for us onto others. Okay, that was a lot of "Love" in one sentence, but what I'm trying to get across is that: sure, other emotions will pop up like sadness and shame, and we shouldn’t just pop on a smile and say we’re living loved. Rather, love is a deep emotional connection we can have for others and God. It means going through seasons of doubt knowing God is Good, God is good to you, and trusting God to be God. In this book, Lysa says, “Living loved is sourced in your daily quiet surrender to the One who made you.” So, let's make that daily surrender together and start living the way God made us to be: Loved. I hope y'all are having an amazing summer!!!!

Live loved,

Emily