Your Value Is His Love

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but the welcome home is the celebration to remember. Nothing is greater than the Father’s love.

February’s Awakening, Day 12

You aren’t loved because you’re valuable.

You’re valuable because God loves you.

 —Author Unknown

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.

 —Ralph Waldo Emerson 

The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.

 —G. K. Chesterton 

So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:20–24 NIV 

            Your ultimate value is not determined by what you possess, what you’ve accomplished, or who you believe yourself to be. Your ultimate value comes from the love of Jesus Christ who shed His very blood for you.  The blood of God, shed for you—that is what gives you infinite value, because there is no greater love. He gave all of Himself for you.

            In the parable of the lost, or prodigal son, the father never stopped loving his son even though his son had rejected the father’s love and home, and had abandoned all his duties and responsibilities. The father’s love was not based on the talents or performance of his son, nor slighted due to the son’s lack of gratitude or love shown in return.  The father’s love was simply based upon the fact that the young man was his son. In the eyes of the father, when the son had rebelled and departed, he was dead and lost to the father. But the power of the father’s love remained vibrant and never-ending. When the son returned, what was dead was now alive and what was lost had been found—a celebration of the unfailing love in the father’s heart.

             Do you fully understand the love in the Father’s heart for you? Regardless of who you may believe yourself to be, regardless of what you’ve done or failed to do, nothing is greater or more celebrated than the Father’s love for you. He will always welcome you back home.