Breaking Free From Labels & Finding Identity in Christნიმუში

Key Verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” John 3:16 (NIV)

As a child, I craved belonging. When my parents divorced, I blamed myself. When my mom lost custody of us, I felt like a burden. The lies whispered louder: You’re unlovable. You’re too much. You’re not enough.

But then came Awanas. One night, I recited John 3:16 (NIV): “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” At first, it was just words to memorize. But as I repeated them, something stirred in my heart. For God so loved the world. My world? That He gave His one and only Son. For me?

It was as if the truth broke through years of walls I didn’t even know I’d built. The God of the universe — the same One who hung stars in the sky — loved me. Not because I earned it. Not because I behaved perfectly. But simply because He created me.

My spirit felt something shift that day. For the first time, I didn’t have to fight to be loved. I didn’t have to earn it or beg for it. I could rest in it. That kind of love was foreign to me — steady, unchanging, pure. And it planted a seed that would take years to fully bloom, but it never stopped growing.

This was unconditional love — the very love I had longed for through my mother’s addiction and later through my ex-husband’s. All the love I tried to fix, chase, and hold onto could never compare to the love I found that night in Jesus. His love didn’t demand, disappoint, or disappear.

God’s love is not performance-based. It doesn’t leave when things get hard or when we make mistakes. His love isn’t conditional — it’s covenantal. It’s a love that gives everything to bring us home.

Reflection Questions:

• Has someone in your life made love feel conditional?
• How has that affected your view of God’s love?
• When was the last time you truly let yourself rest in His love — without earning it, without proving anything?

Prayer: Jesus, I thank You for loving me before I ever knew You. When human love has failed or felt conditional, remind my heart that Your love is perfect and unchanging. Let that truth sink deep into my spirit until I believe it with everything I am. Amen.