You are a beloved child of the Father. Do you believe it?

I recently wrote Wonderfully Made as a reminder of how beautifully and wonderfully made we really are. It’s true. Jesus tells us so in the Bible.  Often hard to believe, but it is the reality we all have a hard time grasping.

This weekend I was at a Catholic Charismatic Conference in Nashville and one of the speakers, Sister Nancy Kellar, wanted to drive home the point that we are, in fact, all beloved children of the Father. It was a powerful little experiment.

Sister asked all of the women in the room to stand up and claim it out loud in front of everyone. In unison we said, “I am a beloved daughter of the Father.” Of course, when we first recited the phrase, it wasn’t very loud. We didn’t really believe it. So she asked us to say it again like we meant it. Once all of the women loudly claimed to be beloved daughters of the Father, she asked all the men to clap for us.

Imagine that – claiming to be beloved by the Father and having your brothers in Christ clap for you. It brought tears to my eyes. Why? Because I have a hard time believing it’s true. I think we all do. The lies of the world make it so.

Don’t worry, men, after the women sat down, Sister Kellar had the men stand up and say, “I am a beloved son of the Father.” And likewise, all of the women clapped for the men.

Such a simple little exercise, but incredibly impactful.

As we all processed through this experiment I noticed a few things – the body language and facial expressions of the people around me. As we stood there claiming to be beloved, the smiles spread and the bodies stood a little taller. This idea that we can actually be fully loved by the Father even though we are sinful was very freeing and refreshing.

Try this at home. Look in the mirror and tell yourself, I am a beloved son/daughter of the Father. Don’t just say it, let it soak in. Try this with your families. Tell your children they are beloved children of the Father, tell your spouse they are a beloved child of the Father. Make it a habit to talk to one another like this. The more you say it out loud, the easier it is to believe. After all, it is your Truth.