Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings in the name of our kind God – the one who is warm, loving, and accepting – the one who reassures, “You are special to Me. I care about you. I claim you as Mine.”
Human relationships can be inconsistent. I suppose the most common shortcoming is that we tend to take our loved ones for granted. We get used to the status quo, and we forget to express our love. We all have observed the sappy romanticism of dating couples and newlyweds, and we also realize how unusual it is for that overt display to continue through all the following decades of marriage. That doesn’t mean the love is any less, but we can become careless and less intentional in our expressions of it. As a result, many married people at some point reach the conclusion, or at least the doubt, that their spouse doesn’t love them anymore. The same can happen with parents and children as the years and stages progress. Especially as women, our memories are short, and we need frequent reassurances of love. There are lots of people in our world who feel unloved, and sometimes that is only because the people who love them neglect to overtly express that love. We want to feel special to someone, and God says . . .
“But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself” (4:3).
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (8:3-4).
“Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings” (17:8).
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (23:1).
“Withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O LORD; let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me” (40:11).
“We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (100:3).
“He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives” (106:46).
“For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself [have compassion] concerning his servants” (135:14).
“The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy [kind] in all his works” (145:17).
God says, “My dear child, you are unable to comprehend how precious you are to Me. I have chosen you. No matter how insignificant you think you are, I notice you, and I care about you. You are the special object of my affection, and I will display my love in part by giving you all that you need, by creating a place where you belong, and by showering you with my care and compassion.”
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
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