Be Loved

Remember, especially at Christmas, that you are loved. Think of our being beloved not as a title but as a command: Be Loved. 

Just before Jesus entered his public ministry, two major events occurred: (1) He was baptized in the Jordan river, and (2) he was tempted in the wilderness. Mark 1:9–11 describes the moment of Jesus’ baptism, when a voice from heaven said, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11, NRSV). What a beautiful scene! Imagine the Creator’s voice, booming out with pleasure and calling Jesus “beloved.”

Romans 8:16–17 (NRSV) says that you and I are “children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” An heir is someone who is entitled to all the rights, privileges, property, power, and titles given to another. A king, for instance, might pass on to his oldest son the authority to rule as king. Romans tells us that we have been adopted into God’s family and share the inheritance Jesus receives as God’s son.

Therefore, we are all God’s beloved. Rather than relating to us merely as Creator to creature, God chooses to relate to us as parent to child. We are God’s precious children. As sons and daughters of the king of kings, we, like Jesus, are princes and princesses of the kingdom of heaven. That’s good news!

Click here to read the entire article, Be Loved, first published in devozine magazine.

—from devozine (November/December 2014). Copyright © 2014 by The Upper Room®. All rights reserved.