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“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.” Ephesians 1:4

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13

This whole thing is about you. Before the creation, before time, God knew you and loved you. He loves you now and He will never leave you. You are the apple of his eye, created in His image and destined for eternal, joyful, peaceful, loving relationship with Him.

Here is a mystery. When He thinks of you He thinks only of you. He is fully present with you and loving toward you. Your concerns, fears and joys are His as well. There are no secrets. He knows the whole you and He loves you. You may ask, “Well, then what about everyone else?” The mystery is that He is the same with every person. How does He do that? I don’t know. It’s a mystery.

You are the reason He willingly paid the ultimate price to make a way for you to live with Him forever. The only remaining obstacle you face is your own choice. He will not force himself upon you. You must choose freely to love Him. That’s how much God loves you. How much do you love yourself?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Think about that second commandment for a moment: He said, love your neighbor AS YOURSELF. Why would he put it like that? He could have just left it at “Love your neighbor” or “Love your neighbor as I love you” but he didn’t. It’s almost as if he sneaked a third commandment in there: Love yourself.

Learn to be okay with yourself. This is another tall order that is only attained one moment at a time. If you’re going to know yourself it will be through Him. If you are going to know others it will be through Him. If you are going to be known by others it will be through Him. God made us to be in relationship, and relationship is a two-way thing; we need to be known as well as to know. ALL of it happens through Him.

God doesn’t make mistakes. There is a reason that the first commandment is to Love the Lord completely; the more you hang out with God, the more you will sense His unconditional love for you and that changes how you feel about yourself.

“There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

You get love, hope, peace but no judgments. All the negative thoughts are coming from some source other than God. If you are going to change it will be because you love and are being loved. You can’t truly love your neighbor unless you love yourself. You can look good, but you’re never going to experience the fullness of a relationship with another person if you don’t have a relationship with God that teaches you to love yourself.

When we think about some of the things we tell ourselves, it can be pretty appalling. “I’m so stupid.” “I’ll never be good enough.” “I’m so fat it’s disgusting.” We say things to ourselves that we would never dream of saying to another person and that God, our heavenly loving Father, would never, ever say to us. Imagine how you would feel if you heard your son tell your daughter that she was stupid. That’s probably how God feels when we say those things to ourselves. How could we criticize His perfect creation so easily?

Before the beginning of time He knew you and He loved you. In the womb He knew you and he loved you. Today He knows you and loves you. He will never leave you or forsake you. When creation began and ever since. He desires an ongoing and growing relationship with you.

One of the reasons for our negative and derogatory thoughts are that we often compare ourselves to others. There will always be people who are better, smarter, stronger, thinner, taller, shorter and so on. God does not compare us to one another. When He looks at you he sees the person He beautifully and deliberately created. He knows completely who you are today. And He loves you.

Your life here is all about His love for you, His hopes for you, His desire to have an intimate relationship with you. He knows you and loves you and wants you to know and be known to others through His love. God is not limited by space and time like we are so He is always with you and completely present. We can’t be fully present all the time with everyone but, when we practice being present as much as possible, we are following God’s lead. Whether or not to practice is up to us.

He created you with the ability to choose. He will not impose himself on you. He has already chosen you. You must choose him. An authentic relationship involves two parties and cannot be forced.

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18