Do They Like Me?

I sat in the driver's seat, turning the wheel, depressing the pedals, and words swirled in my mind.

Did they like me?

I left an event full of people, and I wondered if I was liked, loved, needed, seen.

Did they like me?

It was the cry of the me inside wanting to know if I was validated, known, heard, wanted.

Did they like me?

I have spent so much of my life wondering if I am liked, if I am loved, if I am wanted, and my deepest self wants to please.

But what if they don't like me? 

As I drove the car, the words swirled in my mind, and the whisper of the Holy Spirit came through all the deafening lies swirling in my head.

You are not here to be loved,
but to be love.

I knew it was the voice of truth because it was truth.  I am not here to be loved by people.  I want them to love me, to like me, to want to be with me, but what if they don't?

Be love.

My interactions with others should not be based on if they liked me when I walk away, but if I showed them love?  Life-changing, God-honoring, Christ-sacrificing love.

Did I love them well?

Look at the example of Christ.  He was moved with compassion for the multitudes, and He healed them when they were sick, He fed them when they were hungry, He spoke truth to them even when they didn't fully understand or like what He said.  When He was done, some people liked Him, but many did not.  He still showed them love.

Be My love.

In my life, I need to be His love to others.  That needs to be the goal.  So change the question.  Stop asking if they liked me, and start asking if I loved them.  If I loved them well, then it doesn't matter what they think of me.  All that matters is what my God thinks of me, and if I love people as He did, then I know I have done well.