Yes, each beloved by God!

There is no question that we are each beloved by God. The deeper question is whether we are brave enough—and humble enough—to receive such love from the Holy of Holies. Divine love does not arrive as flattery or reward; it comes as an unveiling. To accept it is to consent to being known beyond our defenses, beyond our striving, beyond the story we tell ourselves about worthiness.

The mystics remind us that God’s love is not earned but endured. As Julian of Norwich wrote, “The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.” Yet this gladness requires courage, for love exposes us to transformation. Meister Eckhart speaks to this inner poverty when he says, “God is not found in the soul by adding anything, but by a process of subtraction.” To receive God’s love, we must loosen our grip on control, achievement, and fear. Teresa of Ávila echoes this holy vulnerability: “The important thing is not to think much, but to love much.”

Scripture bears witness to this same paradox of bold humility. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), not by overpowering us, but by inviting our consent. God’s nearness is not coercive; it waits at the door of the heart: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). And when we dare to open, we discover that love has always been seeking us first: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10).

To accept divine love is an act of quiet heroism. It is the humility to stop proving, the bravery to remain open, and the faith to trust that being beloved is not a future achievement but a present truth. The Holy of Holies does not demand our perfection—only our willingness to receive.

Loving God, surround me now in my worry and wondering that I’m not enough, in my desire to achieve, in my wanting to have things certain ways… May I be transformed today, each day but especially today to open myself to the love you are pouring out for me and allow your love to guide my moments today to love others in the ways they need, the ways you will. Thy will be done, Thy will be done in me, through me, around me, until nothing is left but you! Amen.