Being loved by someone is all that anyone ever wants, yet some people feel that being loved is impossible. People who believe they are incapable of being loved usually have not received love from those they crave it most, for example their parents. Because of this mentality, they have a hard time receiving love because they do not know what it is like. These people are the ones who love the hardest, but have a lack of trust.

However, there is one person who loves with a love greater than anything. His name is Jesus. He loves you so much that he was willing to die just to save you. YOU are important to him, so important he knows your name even if you have never heard of his. Living in the bible belt, most people have heard this but haven’t experienced it. This leads to people believing they are so worthless that not even God loves them. Most Christians tend to stick with the other Christians instead of showing love to those who need to know Jesus’ love, but not all of us are like that.

I grew up in church, but never really felt that God loved me because I felt I wasn’t good enough for him to. I went to church and did what I thought was right, but I just didn’t feel extraordinary. A few years ago I started going to church that taught about God’s grace and love. One night, as the worship team played the song Holy Spirit, I just felt God’s embrace for the first time. Once I had a little taste of God’s love for me, I was hooked. I knew right then that if no one else loved me and thought I was important, God did. After a while, I could feel myself slipping away from God. I pushed him away because I started hanging out with some not so good people, and I started picking up some of their habits. Don’t get me wrong, I was never a bad kid. Then, I became a youth leader at the church I was going to, so I knew I had to quit hanging out with those people. A few years passed and I was hurt tremendously by some of the people I looked up to at the church. They wanted nothing to do with me anymore.

I let the hurt build up in me so much I couldn’t take it. At the beginning of this year, I forgave those people because it takes way too much energy to stay mad at someone who wants nothing to do with you. A few months after I forgave them, my boyfriend and I broke up. That was the last straw. I wanted to feel God’s embrace again. I started reading my bible and praying again. But it’s funny, even though I can feel God when I am doing those things, I feel him the most when I am with people, when I am just loving on people and being kind to them. Seeing the smiles I get for just being friendly makes my day. By loving people, I know that I am loved by God. I know that no matter what I do, I will always be his beloved. And for those who feel like no one loves you, God loves you more than you will ever know!