I know I’ve said this before but it should be repeated: God loves us for just one reason, and that’s because we are God’s treasured creation. I’m repeating it here because we, as survivors, need to remind ourselves that true love treasures us for who we are. NOT who we can be, not how useful we are.

I’m a survivor too and I recognize the temptation: We often feel that if we’re irreplaceable then we’ll really be loved because someone really needs us. Or we may also feel that if we change to fit someone’s expectations for us, then we’ll be loved. But no. True love does not depend on us meeting someone else’s standards. It doesn’t depend on us doing what someone else needs us to do. Being needed or being valued for what we do does not equal true love.

Humans are not perfect and so other people cannot love us perfectly (though of course some people offer more true love than others do). But God can, and does, love us perfectly: for who we are, not for who we can be and not for what we offer. And God will never stop loving us. May we all rest and rejoice in that knowledge.

Please, always, email me if you have questions or comments: Mary.Brown@SilenceBrokenNow.org.