Already Loved: You Can Stop Trying to Earn It
There is a kind of love that makes you hustle and a kind of love that lets you breathe. One is earned love—performance-based, fragile, and easily withdrawn when you don’t “measure up.” The other is everlasting love—the love God speaks over you in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Everlasting love is not a mood or a moment; it is your starting place.
When you live like love is something you have to work for, your inner voice becomes a harsh manager: constantly reviewing, scoring, and criticizing you. That voice will tell you you’re “too much” here and “not enough” there, and it will never feel satisfied for long. But when you live as already loved, your inner voice begins to sound like a kind coach instead of a relentless critic. You start making decisions from security instead of scrambling for approval.
This week, pay attention to the subtle ways you try to “earn” love—overexplaining, over-giving, overworking, or agreeing to what drains you. Then gently remind yourself: “I am already loved. I don’t have to perform for a seat at the table.” Let that one truth become the new baseline for how you show up at work, at home, and even in the conversations you have with yourself.