To Embrace the Belovedness of Being…

I want to share a prayer written by Christine Valters Painter:

Holy One, inspire the eyes of our hearts to see ourselves as beloved just as we are. Help us remember there is nothing we need to do to be worthy or loved, that everything magical and alive in this stunning world pulses within us as well. Each of us is blessed by the simple fact of being created by you, our belovedness as close as our own breath. As your children—ordinary, weird, and quirky—we are precious in your sight. By the fact of our existence, we have a share in your being alongside mineral and mountain, river and flow, the tide ebbing and rising. The fire of constellations burns within us as does the breath of your inspiration. Infuse our dreams with visions of a world where everyone is loved just as we are, the tender and trembling parts welcome alongside the bold and bewitching ones. Your voice echoes across generations: I am who am, and we stand in that presence too, knowing ourselves as creatures destined for holiness, flesh redeemed with all our scars and wounds, the broken places shimmering with your grace. Bless the circles we stand in, that we might be seen for who we are and see others in the light of your love, each of us a sliver of starlight, our radiance ringing out across a galaxy of hope.

I often tell myself (and students) in my yoga classes that as you practice, you are not trying to achieve worth—you are remembering it. I do not know where I first heard this, but I like it. Worth can mean the value, usefulness or importance of something. Some synonyms for worth are excellence, importance, significance and value. I love a good ole dictionary and/or thesaurus.

This prayer says to “help us to remember there is nothing we need to do to be worthy or loved…” Achievement in worldly things was once my foundation for identity. I felt important, significant and valued when I achieved. I would remember my achievements and that would sometimes give me a good feeling of success in life and a confidence around family or friends. Getting awards for athletics, being in beta club when I was in middle school, getting a promotion at work, buying my first home, getting awards in sales jobs—all things that made me feel like I was “doing well”. Many of my life achievements are good things, but sadly I was making them the foundation of my identity for much of my younger years of formation. The more I do my own work of digging into the intricate ways God created me, the more I see how this identity started to take root. My mind would tell me that being useful and successful= I mattered. Do good and you will be praised. Perform well and people will like you. This is not the message of the gospel, but it does seem to be the message of our world.

Then good news comes along. In fact, John 1:14 says that “Jesus became flesh and and made his dwelling among us.” Jesus is the embodiment of God’s good news. Jesus comes along and says you are loved here and now—you were loved from the beginning. Jesus who is my creator, my father, my God. So how do we live in this world and trust that God sees me as worthy and his beloved without doing a thing? This goes against all things many of us have been taught since toddler years.

But then I think of myself as a parent. I love them for who they are and not for anything they do or do not do. My daughter did not have to learn how to potty train in 2 days when she was little for me to love her any more or less. My son did not have to clean up his room for me to love him and more or less. This is the shift. The love in their heart and my heart matters so much more than things we achieve in this short vapor of life.

Being secure in Christs love for me allows me live my life from this place of belovedness. So the order to all of this starts with the fact God loves us. 1 John 4:19 says “we love because he first loved us.” So from birth, we teach our loved ones that God loves us. For those of us growing up in a Christian faith, we have done this—-we taught our kids the song “Jesus loves me.” But the difference for me is I got this all in the mind and memory of lyrics, but it did not take root in my heart. I needed to experientially receive and know that love. But how do you do that?

For me, experiencing that love has become less about trying to create a feeling and more about learning to receive. It means slowing down enough to notice God’s presence—in prayer, in my breath, in the beauty of creation, in the love of people around me and in the quiet moments of stillness and surrender. I do not have to perform or achieve—I can simply be. Sometimes this feels deeply comforting, and sometimes it feels almost impossible to live out. But perhaps that is why it is a practice: returning again and again to the truth that I am already loved, already held, already God's beloved. This is the practice.

So we remember our worth. We do not exercise, serve others, love people or accomplish things in order to become worthy. We begin where Jesus began: as the beloved son. Before the work, before the achievement, before the striving, there was love. And from that secure place, we are now free to become the people God created us to be! Ephesians 2:10 reminds me that I am God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works. The good works matter, but they are not the foundation of my worth—they are the fruit of it. We are already beloved. We already belong. And the lifelong practice for me is simply learning to live from that truth. Perhaps is becomes a daily practice of reorienting the heart or knowing our “belovedness as close as our own breath.”

Only God can see what is on the inside…

1 Samuel 16:7 says “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do no consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

I love this verse. God is talking about David here who scripture tells us is a man after God’s heart. The context is important—-Samuel has been sent to anoint a new king after Saul. When he sees Eliab (David’s brother), Samuel assumes he must be God's chosen one because he appears impressive. God corrects Samuel, explaining that human beings tend to judge by visible qualities such as appearance, status, or strength—but God examines a person's inner character, motives, faithfulness, and intentions. Ultimately, God chooses David, the youngest son. His brothers may have viewed him as some awkward teenager smelling like a bunch of sheep. An unlikely choice. But God saw what no one else saw—a man who was seeking the heart of God.

I was talking about this verse with my kids this morning as we were driving by some really big houses with full size basketball courts and olympic size pools. Pretty eye catching—but there is always more than meets the eye when we open the doors to a home and meet people. The world tells us what matters is on the outside—not only how we look, but also success, money and status. But God tells us here to look at peoples hearts and let that lead us to love them well, serve them and care for them in a way that gives them courage. I am so thankful for the people in my own life who encourage and build up my heart. We all need this—all of us. People with the biggest bank accounts in the world to the people who are begging on the streets. We are not here to judge hearts (that is a job only for God). We are here to love hearts.

My daughter was confused on what heart meant in this verse. Such a good question. In the Bible, the "heart" often refers to the center of a person's thoughts, desires, will, and character—not just emotions. So the verse teaches that God sees the inner person, but actions do tend to flow out from that inner place. Jeremiah 17:10 says that “God searches the heart”, and John 7:24 records Jesus saying, "Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly." There is a lot to ponder on with those verses as well.

1 Samuel 16:7 offers a simple but meaningful reminder: Let’s encourage and pray for hearts to grow in faith, love, humility, and attentiveness to God.

People may look at the outward appearance of me and assume they know what I believe because I am a yoga teacher. I have heard many comments over the years about why I should not be doing yoga. But I know in the depths of my soul that God looks at my heart and knows my deep love for Him. My heart belongs to Jesus and my purpose is to glorify Him by helping people care for their mind, body, heart and soul.

What is most important before God is the state of our hearts, not our appearance. So maybe today—we try not to spend so much time focusing on our physical appearance like what we will wear to yoga class or how old we may think we look. Maybe today we take more notice of when we are thinking about what others see or think about us. Maybe today, we notice these things and offer them to God for help in transforming our hearts to pant after Him and not after the things of this world. This verse is such an encouragement to focus and tend to the state of our hearts. I pray for my own heart and the hearts of my family to transform for greater love for ourselves, others and God. Grateful for his word.