With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I just wanted to share something that’s been on my heart about worth, knowing, liking, and loving. For those of you that know me, you know romantic relationships are something I have absolutely zero experience with, so Valentines Day has never been a big deal to me (except for the treats from my parents hehe). But for a lot of you, I know this day reminds you of love lost in one way or another. And I just want you to know that you are not alone, and you are so loved. That season of love you had was a blessing. Be thankful for the good memories, grow from the not so great ones, and be optimistic for the future.
I know you. I. Know. You.
We all know a lot of things. We measure this with grades. We put our worth into a single letter or numerical value. We know the sky is blue, the moon goes through phases, and that our body is a beautiful machine of organ systems working to keep us alive. We know all sorts of things about the world. But we often have a void. Who knows me? Sometimes those closest to us can let us down the most with that question. A lot of people “know” us. But very few KNOW us. I can know a lot about a person but still fail to know what makes them insecure or brings the biggest smile to their face.
So in your relationships, try to know people–truly, and not just on the surface level. Listen to them intently. Love them like Jesus. Learn from them. And grow with them.
I like you. I. Like. You.
So many of us find our worth in being liked. In how many followers we have, in how many people unfollowed us after highschool, the amount of likes that one curated and reposted post got, or the amount of friends we now have in college. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this per say but should we let all of these numbers dictate our value? We let mere numbers tell us our worth. How crazy is that?
Friend, you are so much more than that. So deserving of more than merely being liked. I think at the heart of it we desire to be seen. We desire to be acknowledged for who we are. We feel like no one really sees us. Like no one could possibly understand what it feels like to be us.
You have to stop caring about what the world thinks and start believing in what you think–in what you truly value most in this world. The world will ebb and flow and if you follow its current you will surely become lost in the tide. Be the most authentic version of you that sticks to their values and fights for their beliefs. Be the person younger you dreamed of being.
But for some of us, we are still trying to figure that out. And that’s okay. Take the time to experience, fail, learn, and grow without judgment. Be still and rest assured in the person you are becoming–the person you were created to be.
I love you. I. Love. You.
This can strike up memories of family, of your friends, of a boyfriend or girlfriend, of a husband or wife. For me it’s my family, we say it often and can sometimes take it for granted. For some of us, this causes pain. It triggers memories of betrayal or hurt. I’ve never been in love with a person. Never been in the “talking” stage of a relationship. Never even hugged (romantically at least) or kissed a guy. And at times, I really struggle with this. It’s hard seeing all of your friends have their “firsts” while you just watch. Am I even worthy of love? I know my family loves me but they have to (or at least should). What is wrong with me? For some of us that have been in broken relationships, this still holds true.
But it all goes back to worth. Are you putting all of your worth into broken people that can inevitably hurt you in one way or another because we are all imperfect by nature? Or are you going to put your worth in your one constant? God loves you more than you could ever imagine. When you finally realize the radical, unwavering love He has for you, you will realize you have everything you need. You will see His hand in everything. You will see how He has not and will not abandon you and is moving in ways you can’t even comprehend. The little, “broken” things in the people around us don’t seem so big when God is at the center.
So let love pour out from you each day, say “I love you” more to those that matter to you, and speak more to the One that loves you most.
Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (CSB)
In Summary…
I want to leave you with a quote from one of my favorite speaker’s, Sadie Robertson. In her new book Who Are You Following: Pursuing Jesus in a Social Media Obsessed World, she profoundly encapsulates the irony of yearning to be liked in this world.
“The irony of the double tap is that while the like button has trained us to be likable, it has prevented us from feeling truly loved. We post our curated lives and edit our true feelings and struggles to maximize the rewards…The desire to be liked in such a way that we filter who we are is moving us away from feeling loved because it is making it impossible for us to be truly known.”
Robertson Huff, Sadie. Who Are You Following: Pursuing Jesus in a Social Media Obsessed World. Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2022.
Are you seeking to be merely liked in this life? Are you seeking to be known in this world? Or are you seeking the greatest of all in this life? Love. I challenge you to think about how you love this week and what the source of the love in your life is. Because if you can answer that question, you know your worth. And that changes everything.
