Those words feel so good to hear from another human being. They melted my heart, that I could actually be that acceptable, that lovable. 

And then they launched me into an encounter with love. (Did you know your wholehearted, genuine love for another human being can do something that powerful for them?!)

The next morning I woke up, and the first thing God said to me was,  "There is absolutely nothing I would change about you. I adore each part of you, I love you for exactly who you are in this moment. Every part. I wouldn’t change one thing. You are perfect in every way to me." 

He said it to me over and over as I lay there in bed, and I felt my entire being fill up with his love in the most tender and comforting way.

Did you know God could love you like this? Actually, I didn’t. Not like that. Not until he said those words to me did I believe he thought I was that lovable. 

It broke my heart wide open as I suddenly realized that the type of God I thought he was up until that moment was a God who liked me, but still wanted me to change.

I subconsciously believed that he looked at me and measured me up, and thought that I wasn’t quite good enough. That he thought I still had a ways to grow before I could fully be given his love. That he looked at me and saw the things that needed work, the areas he would like to fix, the places that needed some tweaking to make me ‘better.’

But no. God likes you just the way you are. Even in your sin. He wouldn’t change a thing. He loves each moment with you exactly the way you are, he relishes each experience and encounter with you, fully present in the moment. 

Not once is he looking at you thinking of who you could or should be one day. You are enough to fully satisfy him in this exact moment. 

You in all your beauty, fullness, messiness, loveliness and wild wonder. You don’t have to be anyone else, or change a thing about you. Each part of you is adored. You are perfect right now, in your process. 

Take a deep breath, put your hand over your heart, and say to yourself, as well as hear God say to you, "I love you, as you are, right in this moment. You are perfect in every way to me."