Gifts of Lent: Remember You are Loved!
A few years ago, after a planned surgery, Tony and I spent a lot of time on the couch streaming shows. One series we got through multiple seasons of was The Crown. There is no way to know how much of it was creative speculation, but there were parts that I really hoped were true. One of my favorite lines was by Prince Andrew to Queen Elizabeth when she has displaying an uncharacteristic bad attitude. He said, “This isn’t like you.”
What I appreciated about that scene was that instead of criticizing her, he pointed out that she was not acting in a way that was consistent with who he knew her to be. He was reminding her of who she was. What a gift!
And actually, I believe that we all have at least two sources that can lovingly and gently remind us of who we are. The first is Scripture and the other, working hand-in-hand, is the Holy Spirit. Jesus described the Spirit as “the Advocate.” He said that the Father would send the Spirit in Jesus’ name and that it would remind the disciples of everything that Jesus had told them. (John 14:26)
The promise for us, then, is that when we spend time reading and listening to God’s words, the Spirit will continue the work that a passage has begun. As we go about our day we can think about, meditate on and continue to benefit from the very words of God spoken to us specifically, because of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
So what is something that Jesus said regarding who we are that the Spirit can remind us of? How about the most popular and well known words in the Bible? Listen to the Amplified version to hear it anew today:
“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that He even gave His One and only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him as Savior, shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
Remember, my friend, YOU are dearly loved. It’s who you are!
