I think all of us to some extent live with this innate awareness of our weaknesses and mistakes, and if we are honest, we often hold this belief that those things make us unlovable. I don’t know about you, but I have a long history of believing this lie, and convincing myself my humanness makes me somehow unlovable to my parents, my husband, my children, my friends… even God. Just like Adam and Eve, I still feel the instinct to run, to pull away, when I’m inevitability not perfect.
Can you relate to this?
I often think of the Woman at the Well in John 4. I relate deeply to her story. This Samaritan woman is bewildered when Jesus approaches her for water and opens up conversation with her. It’s like she carried around this deep belief she was unworthy. She was probably even told that many, many times in her life. This unworthiness began to shape her identity. Her sin and failures had become her defining qualities.
You see, we are all desperate for love. A love that is unconditional. We are all made to experience and drink deeply of this kind of love. All of our failures at a heart level point us back to this longing for this divine love. We were simply trying to satiate it in all the wrong ways. “Looking for love in all the wrong places,” if you will.
When we examine the sacred encounter between Jesus and the Woman at the Well, we see an invitation extended to any of us who acknowledge and sense this thirst for true life. Jesus says to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
In Jesus, we see this promise of satisfaction, this promise of love that crosses boarders and boundary lines, this love that holds no conditions. Jesus extended it then to a woman completely unworthy in those days’ standards. He extends this same powerful invitation to us today—come as you are. Drink deep. Be truly satisfied. Never thirst again.
As the amazing Brennan Manning put it, “In loving me, you made me lovable.” Whatever label you have been extended in the past—broken, unworthy, unlovable, too far gone, God turns it on its head. The one who truly defines worth extends the highest value to you. He left the ninety-nine to chase after the one. And that is all that matters today. Regardless of how broken down, fallen, and barren your soul may feel today, God is ready to pour out the well of his endless love that never runs dry on you today.
May you allow him to fill you up, and satisfy the deepest longings in your heart right now as you make space to meet with him.
Your Love Is A Well | First15 Worship feat. Rachel Denison
