Whatever your circumstances, never forget that somebody loves you

Sometimes songs come onto the radio with lyrics that make me cringe about the message they’re giving to those who hear them. For example, if I hear Big Girls Don’t Cry I have to switch stations for fear that might just get too angry about the potentially-damaging wrong impression it could be giving impressionable members of our society.

Another song I thought fitted into the same category when I heard it several times recently was You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You. But then I realised something. I realised that, while the sentiment that big girls don’t cry is, in essence, rubbish, there could actually be some truth in the assertion that you’re nobody until somebody loves you. The important thing is, thought, that somebody does love everyone, and the key question is whether everyone realises this.

Many of us are fortunate to have people around us – partners, family, friends – who we know love us and who we love in return. Sadly there are many who, for whatever reason, have not had the benefit of some of the loving relationships that others take for granted. For some, it can be difficult to believe that anyone would love them, or to trust those who say they do.

But whatever our experiences of human relationships, loving or otherwise, we can all be certain of the most important love of all – that each and every one of us is loved by God. And not only that but He loved you so much that He planned your creation before the beginning of the first human life, and He made you to be exactly the person you are because He knew the world needed that person to help fulfil His plan.

And then, when mankind as a whole screwed up by believing it knew better than God and trying to take control, He had so much love for those He had created – and those He was yet to create – that Jesus died on the cross as the punishment for our wrongdoing so that we could eventually take up the places we didn’t deserve in Heaven.

In the Bible, John chapter 3, verse 16 tells us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” There can be no greater love than that.

And He did this long before any of us was in a position to choose to love Him back or to follow Him. His love is unconditional. He longs for each and every one of us to come to us and be saved from an eternity of suffering – what loving parent wouldn’t? – but He that doesn’t stop Him loving those who haven’t done so.

To those who love him, God promises in Isaiah 43, verses 1-3, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour”

And that doesn’t mean that if you haven’t already given your love to God and made a commitment to Him that you’ve missed your chance. Romans chapter 10, verse 13 makes it clear that is not the case when it says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The fact remains, whether you know and love Him or not, God loves you, and that, according to the song, means you can never be a nobody, however you feel about yourself.

Sarah Moore is the author of For the Love of Lentil, A journey of longing, loss and abundant grace, which tells the story of her experience of pregnancy and miscarriage. Copies of the book are available here.