Live loved. Two little words with a big message. But like many other lines created to make a point, they become dull to us. Trite. So familiar we miss the message.
Such is the nature of humanity. Bored with old. Seeking new. But there’s nothing new under the sun—including the need for us to live loved. It’s a core need. Studies have been done.
We know we need love or we die—but what does it mean to live it?
We know we need love or we die—but what does it mean to live it? Share on X
PERCEIVING LOVE
I grew up feeling unloved and unwanted. My perception was skewed by many things and I couldn’t see love. I believed the lie that I had no value. (my story here).
Perception is reality to the one in the experience.― Danielle Bernock, Emerging with Wings: A True Story of Lies, Pain, and the Love That Heals
This is true even when the perception is skewed with lies. If you don’t perceive you’re loved you cannot live it out.
My perception – how I saw things, is what I lived out of. I did not live loved.
Living loved is having the perception of being loved and operating from that core perception—I am loved.
If you don't perceive you're loved you cannot live it out. Share on X
POWERFUL LOVE
What does living loved do for us? A person who feels loved is stable, strong, and confident. A person who feels loved can endure bullying.
For example, Dolly Parton.
When she was little, her family didn’t have money and her mom made her a coat out of rags, sewn together with love. The kids at school laughed at her but she didn’t care. She said they didn’t understand. She felt rich. Her perception was that coat of rags was worth more than all their clothes. She lived loved.
At her high school graduation, she was subjected to public humiliation. Every graduate was called to the stage and asked to share their dreams. Dolly dreamed of being a famous singer. The entire audience laughed at and mocked her. Instead of it holding her back, it propelled her forward. She vowed to do what she dreamed because she knew who she was and she lived loved.
I marveled when I heard Dolly’s story. I was publically humiliated multiple times as a child and my lack of living loved was evident by the fallout in my life.
Living loved is powerful.
Living loved is powerful. Share on X
CIRCLE OF LOVE
When I asked some people What does living loved mean to you? they explained it beautifully.
- To know for certain my life matters to those I love and who love me.
- To be seen. To be heard.
- To connect deeply with another.
- To have an interaction that energizes and not depletes.
- Where both people benefit.
- To receive love and be able to convert that into loving outwardly. Constant exchange.
Every one of their answers involves at least two people. Love is a verb. Love requires sharing. Love lives in a circle of giving and receiving.
The circle has to start somewhere.
Love lives in a circle of giving and receiving. Share on X
WHERE IT STARTS
Love is life to us. It’s the blood in our emotional veins. We were created by love and for love. God is love. That’s where it starts. Receiving that love is how the circle completes.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God IS love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us — I John 4:16–17
Sharing love with others enlarges the circle.
Living in the circle of love is not only what it means to live loved—but what it means to truly live.
Sharing love with others enlarges the circle. Share on X
WHAT NEXT
- Do you live loved? Where do you struggle?
- For help knowing you’re seen, known, and loved, get Love’s Manifesto
- For help in loving others in the circle of love read my article How to love well
- Get a copy of Dolly’s story Coat of Many Colors made into a children’s book from this song:
Thank you Danielle for your uplifting and inspirational thoughts.
You’re most welcome. I’m glad you they touched your heart.
Thank you for reading and commenting.