Monday, February 6, 2012

Not Lovable

This morning I saw a story on the news about a gorgeous and successful actress who has been hospitalized for depression and anorexia. The news reporter was perplexed. How can someone who "has it all" fall into such despair?

What haunts me from that interview is this quote by the actress from a recent interview:

“I would say what scares me is that I’m going to ultimately find out at the end of my life that I’m really not lovable, that I’m not worthy of being loved. That there’s something fundamentally wrong with me… that I wasn’t wanted here in the first place.”

That should seriously disturb those of us who are aware of the love of Christ for every person.

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:38-39

I wonder if there are people I pass everyday who feel the same way she does, who just don't know how immensely they are loved and wanted. Why do they feel separated from love? Is it because no one has told them? Is it because no one has shown them that they can be loved unconditionally just as they are?

I'm praying that this beautiful women will discover God's eternal love for her. But I'm also praying that I won't grow cold and unaware of desperate people who need a glimpse of a Christ whose love drove Him to give His very life for them.

I cannot become so content and comfortable in my own sense of God's love for ME that I forget that there are those who do not yet know. And most of them will never walk through the doors of the church, I will have to show them in their world, right where they are.

My son, Brian, recently said to me, "Mom, I don't think Jesus came all this way and went all the way to death so that we could be comfortable."

May we be uncomfortable as long as one person feels unlovable and unwanted!!

Angela