You Are Called Beloved
Our desire to be loved is meant to be satisfied with your relationship with Christ so you aren't enslaved by this good desire to misery and despair!
I love the word “Beloved.” It’s the kind of word that bears an “antique” feel of sophistication and dignity, as well as expressing a sense of connection and intimacy that keeps it from being “stuffy” or “arrogant.” To be considered “beloved” by someone else is the heart’s cry of most humans! I want to be “beloved” and to have a “beloved.” I bet you do, too.
In fact, with the current cultural phenomenon of a pandemic of loneliness, the hunger to be loved has pushed us humans to dangerous places and destructive behaviors.
But what if you are already BELOVED by Him Who made you, and what if you drew all your worth, meaning, and purpose from that already existing reality? Well, I can tell you, it would change everything for you!
Look at our Gospel Lesson today in 1 John 3:21-24; 4:1-11:
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already. Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
St. John calls his spiritual children “beloved” three times in this passage, and each time, he unveils three powerful insights into what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and be beloved by Him.
First, John’s “beloved” believes in the “name of Jesus Christ.” What does that mean? Well, Jesus means “savior,” and Christ means “anointed one,” so to believe in the name of Jesus Christ is to believe and fully embrace the Son of God as your needed Savior and the One Whom the Father promised our Mother Eve would come and crush the head of that old “serpent!”
Next, John’s “beloved” can tell the difference between truth and error. Of course, that implies that these “beloved” have become so intimate with truth (by the way, truth is a Person) that the counterfeit of truth always stands out like a sore thumb! And this ability to discern flows from the consistent love these “beloved” have for Jesus Christ. This intimacy means that those who are “beloved” can always overcome the tug of this world towards the “spirit of error.”
Finally, John’s “beloved” prove they are “beloved” by their focus on God’s love. These followers of Jesus understand that their ability to love one another flows from their paramount choice to love God FIRST! AND to remember that HE loved them FIRST as well. Since God loved His world so much that He sent His only begotten Son to destroy death by death, we, if we believe this, have only one authentic reaction: we love one another like God has loved us!
When we draw our self-worth from the Inexhaustible Source of true meaning and purpose, we are made invi=ulnerable to the weaknesses of others to love us as we long to be loved. There is nothing so damning to the human soul as to fall into the delusions that “I am all alone” or “No one cherishes me.” The consequences for that hapless person are the Devil’s favorite torment - despair. You were made to know you are loved and cherished by God. His love for you is unchanged by your struggles and unaffected by your mistakes!
The story of the 42 Martyrs of Amorion in Phrygia is a story of strong men tortured but refusing to deny the reality of Jesus Christ. These heroes of the Faith were high-ranking military leaders in the Eastern Roman Empire in the 9th Century AD. They were captured by the Muslim army after the area where they were fell to the invading Muslims. The men were held in a darkened dungeon for seven years while their barbarian captors attempted to get the men to switch sides, convert to Islam, and fight for them. During this time, their Muslim captors made lavish promises of riches and rank if the men would only convert. Then, when that failed, they tortured the heroes. After failing miserably, the Muslims beheaded these men in 845 AD.
Today, love is of God, and everyone who loves is clearly “born of God and knows God.” So, are you “born of God” and “know God?” We have every spiritual tool we need to FINALLY wake up to the FACT that God calls us His Beloved. And it is in finally embracing this ALREADY TRUE reality ( YOU are BELOVED!) that gives you the strength to live a Normal Orthodox life!
P.S. Your Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for You, received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from You, our immortal God. For since they possessed Your strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls since You are merciful.
