People will change. Circumstances will change. Life will change. God doesn't change.

Every week I write what's called a "Thought From The Throne" for the ladies on campus. These "thoughts" are hung up in the bathroom stalls in the residence halls to give them something to read while they're "doing their business". Below is one that I wrote last week . I share this with you because, as I wrote it, the ideas expressed in it really resonated with me and it may, in some way, resonate with you too.

This weekend I went down to the lovely city of Visalia and was a bridesmaid in a wedding for a good friend of mine. I met both her and her then boyfriend (now husband) when we were all three students here at Fresno Pacific. Her and I lived together our senior year of college and became good friends. The wedding was a joyous celebration. She looked beautiful. He was overjoyed at the sight of his bride walking down the aisle. And on Saturday, October 27th, their five year span of dating ended and they became husband and wife.

Now I’ve been blessed to attend many weddings and have now been apart of the bridal party in a total of five weddings. By no means am I saying this to sound cool or as my good friend and fellow RD Dave Obwald would say “to brag about my friend count” but rather to give glory to God that I’ve been blessed with many good, deep and treasured friendships. There is a sense of excitement that can be felt in the air as two people decide to commit their whole lives to one another and to only one another.

My favorite part of every wedding is the moment when the bride begins to walk down the aisle and the groom stands up front, breathless as he watches her every move. I love to watch the expressions on both of their faces as their eyes meet and she moves down the aisle towards him. For Christian couples who pledge their vows in marriage to one another and to God, there is a sense of understanding that they have the ability to love one another, only because God first loved them.

Now go with me here…

I’ve been wrestling with this idea of “love” for sometime now. Now before you think I’m getting all mushy and completely “girly” on you, go with me for a minute. I would venture to say at one point or another we’ve all heard the words, “God loves you” and we’ve probably heard “I love you” from a family member or close friend. The word “love” gets thrown around a lot in our culture and we can find ourselves using the word “love” to describe things like shoes, food ,clothes, etc... “I love those shoes and I love chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream” (that’s my personal favorite). Of course this “love” would be different then the love we give to or receive from people.

Grasping the idea of God’s love for us can be very difficult at times. As humans, we don’t love like God loves—-we can’t. Just like we don’t have the ability to forgive in the same way God forgives or understand His grace at times when we truly don’t deserve it. And we can’t earn God’s love—-He gives is freely. We don’t have to put on an act and try and be someone we’re not in order to be loved by God. You already are loved and valued.

You are good enough exactly as you are. Do you believe this? Because it’s true. You have limitless worth and value. If you embrace this truth, it will affect every area of your life. You are worth dying for. Your worth does not come from your body, your mind, your work, what you produce, what you put out, or how much money you make. Your worth does not come from what you do but from who God is. You don’t have to earn God’s love—-you can’t. You’re already loved-—deeply.

For some this idea of God’s infinite love can be hard to swallow. I encourage you to really think about how valuable you are in God’s sight and how His love for you will not change. People will change. Circumstances will change. Life will change. God’s love for you will never change. Just think about it…

Until Next Week…

Becky