We’ve been talking a lot lately about the intention Jesus has toward you and the way he is coming for you and wants to know you and be known by you.

This is motivated by his deep love and care for you.

I’m curious to know what that notion of love means to you. Do you have an idea in mind of what it means to be loved by someone? Do you know what it feels like to receive love? How comfortable are you with being open to the experience of receiving love?

I know that for me, when I began to receive love from Jesus, the thing that changed everything was the way I felt seen and heard by him. There was a moment in time — a distinct experience in prayer (which I look forward to sharing in full detail with those enrolled in the Gospel immersion course this fall!) — where, for the first time, I got to know the way Jesus looks at me and listens to me.

It was completely unexpected. Never before had I realized he looked at me that way or listened to me so intently. And never before had I realized my need to be seen and heard in such an intent, loving, accepting, and safe way in order to experience and receive love.

I can say with confidence that my experience of Jesus in that moment changed the way I began to receive and experience love from that point on. It not only changed the way I experienced my belovedness before God, but it also began to filter into my daily life and the way I experienced myself in the world and in relation to other people.

When you think of the notion of receiving love, what does that look like and feel like to you? What would it take for you to feel completely safe and vulnerable before another person, in order to receive the experience of being loved?