Unfailing love

I was in a therapy session recently where my therapist said something that made me think for a moment. While discussing how I have been feeling about not being enough or fear of failure and my calling in life, they looked at me and said, “your value is not something that’s earned, it’s your birth right for being human. You can’t earn value, you are human therefore you are valuable.” They continued on explaining that humans are broken and just because we mess up sometimes doesn’t mean our value disappears or becomes less.

The thing that stuck out to me tho, is that my therapist knows I’m a Christian and while they haven’t disclosed whether or not they believe in God, the support they’re providing is in line with my faith. They were right, my value is not something that’s earned. God values every human from the second they begin to exist. He loves them with an unfailing love. We cannot earn value, we cannot lose value. It just is because we are loved and we are human.

Not earning value is not a new concept to me. In fact, it’s something I’ve talked about in a way to encourage others. However, accepting and believing it for myself has always seemed to be a challenge. It’s one thing to tell someone else that they’re valuable, it’s another thing to make sure your own head and heart believe it. But just because you can’t bring yourself to believe it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. And I am saying this to you as much as I am for me.

I often struggle with receiving compliments. While I appreciate them and want to hear them it’s also hard to accept. “Am I really beautiful”, “Have I really impacted people”, “Do I have good ideas”. All questions I’ve had when someone has given me words of encouragement and affirmation. And I’m not a therapist so I’m not going to tell you tricks or tools to accept these compliments and to give yourself them. But I am here to remind you that you are a gift.

You are have value because you are you. You have value because you are loved with an unfailing love. You matter because you were created to matter. Created uniquely. Loved fully. And appreciated greatly.

“May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.”
??Psalms? ?119?:?76? ?NIV??