You Are a Loved

I heard the gospel for the first time as a teenager and eagerly embraced his forgiveness and grace. What I struggled with was the concept that he could really love me. Thus began my quest for perfection. If I could just be the best wife, mother, pastor's wife, surely he would love me more! This sin of unbelief manifested itself in several ways and one was over exercising, pushing myself to exhaustion just to hear some imaginary heavenly handclasp of approval. I trained hard for a marathon thinking that would be the ultimate spiritual experience. I trained everywhere I could, as much as I could, and would pray "Lord I can just feel you giving me strength. I am going to do this! It's going to be so great! You are going to be so proud of me!"  His sheep hear his voice and he clearly said to me "Yes, Vicki, this is a wonderful thing. I will tell you something special when you cross that finish line. In fact, it is so profound that I am going to tell you right now…" I stopped in my tracks and waited to hear this message from the Lord. He said "I am going to tell you when you cross that finish line…that I won't love you anymore than I do right now". The day I got it. It's not about what I can do, or what I feel like I have to do.  It's about what Christ has already done for me. I pray it does not take that long for you to know he loves you just as you are. He loves you right now. Accept it and believe it.

Vicki Heath