In Colossians 3:12 , Paul calls Christ followers, Holy and Dearly Loved. Paul says I am holy and dearly loved. I love being known as one who is dearly loved…and I give mental assent to the fact that I am but it’s difficult for me to allow that to drip down into my heart and soul. Why? Because I still think I need to do something in order to deserve it. I get caught up by what David Benner calls “human doings versus human beings”. I get sucked into the performance treadmill that comes from that negative critic who says, “God loves good little boys and good little girls, and well, the rest of us…well we are just plain in trouble.”

In a sermon series on “Being the Beloved,” Henri Nouwen addresses the heart of this issue. “We are,” he says, “the beloved sons and daughters of God.” This is our center, our foundation, our answer. Yet we find, as he goes on to say, that it is all too easy to place our identity, and our trust, in what we do, what others say about us, and what we have. What do we do then though when we face failure in what we do, praises turn to criticism, and all we have has been lost? The instability of these foundations produces in us a rollercoaster effect that enables constant turbulence in not only our lives, but also our relationships.