Beloved Daughter

Discovering and comprehending the depth of love in a new name

Hi, that’s me– Beloved Daughter.

It’s a name I am learning to call myself. It’s a name that is very unfamiliar to me. A name that if used to get my attention, would not cause me to turn my head.

It’s a name that shame cannot fathom to be true. Yet, it is. And there’s no denying it because it is the Lord that calls me by this name.

I was reflecting on all of this as I was reading Acts 10. In this chapter, Peter is having a vision of animals. God tells Peter to kill and eat what he sees, but Peter refuses because he has “never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” God kindly instructs him, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”

This struck me.

I thought to myself, “How many times do I label myself an unclean, ugly sinner?” The answer to that: All. The. Time. And it’s true, isn’t it? I am unclean. My sin is ugly. And I am quite full of it. And will be until Jesus returns.

As a perfectionist, this is a frustrating fact of life. I yearn to be clean. I yearn for the day when all is right and well with my soul. I yearn to be washed white as snow. I desire so deeply to be fully sanctified and wholly at one with the Lord.

But, despite these desires, as long as I live in this fallen world, sin will be a part of my being.

That being said, I think it would be a mistake to replace “unclean, ugly sinner,” with “clean, perfect saint.” While this is what my perfectionistic heart craves to be called, it is not reality.

What is reality is the name, “Beloved Daughter,” the Lord gives me despite the unloveable nature of my sin. His love is truly a love like no other. It’s a love that steadfastly pursues me when I have done absolutely nothing to deserve it.

But more times than not, this reality feels too good to be true. Shame blocks out these whispers of truth with its deafening cries of accusations: “Ugly!” “Unclean!” “Disgusting!”

Yet, it’s not the wind, or the earthquakes or the fire that have the final say. It’s the gentle whisper in my ear of the One who holds me near to His heart, “You, my Daughter, you are Beloved.”

In His kindness, He gives me a new name. And oh, how beautiful is this name! There is such a peace that enters my striving heart when I think of the simplicity of what the Lord requires of me. He wants me to Be Loved. Because that is what I am.

Deuteronomy 33:12

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,

for he shields him all day long,

and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”

The misnaming of shame

Shame calls me

Unclean,

Dirty,

Disgusting.

Shame names me

Unworthy,

Less Than,

Too Far Gone.

Shame labels me

Weak,

Distorted,

Ugly.

But the Lord holds me close and whispers,

“Beloved Daughter.”

And it is the Lord who has the final say.