Will You Let God Love You? A Post–Valentine’s Day Reflection

Have you ever felt unloved? As educators, we frequently witness the impact of not being loved. On an almost daily basis children walk into our schools feeling unloved. These students often struggle to trust, hope, and belong. Feeling unloved shapes how they see the world, how they view others, and even how they understand their own identity and worth. Feeling unloved is devastating, especially for children who are still discovering who they are.

We know this is true because we are created in the image of God, and God is love. We are wired for love. God designed us to receive it, give it, and flourish within it. That’s why the absence of love wounds us so deeply. However, here’s the good news. God’s love is not fleeting like human love.

In human relationships, love often feels conditional. It can be earned, withdrawn, or quietly withheld. If we are not careful, that mindset can creep into our relationship with God. When we allow that to happen, we can find ourselves striving to attain His love rather than simply receiving it. Striving for love—trying to prove ourselves worthy—often leaves us exhausted and feeling less secure than before.

Most of us know the aches of feeling unloved.

• Feeling unappreciated or unseen by a parent

• Experiencing betrayal in a long-standing friendship

• Being wounded in a romantic relationship

• Being abandoned by someone we trusted

• Feeling dismissed or insulted by someone close to us

  
  

We were created to seek, develop, and cultivate loving relationships. As a result, feeling unloved—no matter how it comes—may be one of the most painful human experiences we face. This is where it becomes deeply personal for educators.

Many of us spend our days loving students who don’t always know how to receive our love. We pour out encouragement, compassion, and care, often without recognition or reassurance. As we do so, familiar questions can awaken in our own hearts. Am I seen? Do I matter? Is what I’m doing making a difference? 

Valentine’s Day comes and goes, often highlighting the love we give, the love we receive, or the love we wish looked different. However, long after the cards are put away and the decorations come down, a deeper invitation remains. It calls us to pause, to consider, and to receive what God has been offering all along.

If you’ve followed for very long, you know this isn’t new territory for me. I’ve written several blogs about love, and in my most recent book, Taking Jesus to School: The Fruit of the Spirit on Display, there’s an entire chapter dedicated to it. Despite all the reading, studying, and meditating I’ve done on God’s love, I continue to be amazed at the new insights God keeps teaching me. Lately, I’ve realized discovering God’s love is a lot like peeling an onion. There are layers and layers and layers. Just when you think you’ve reached the center, there’s more waiting to be uncovered. What is God showing me right now? Let me share two thoughts with you.

First, not too long ago I finished Max Lucado’s Tame Your Thoughts. In the epilogue Lucado ends with a simple but piercing challenge: Let God love you. What I heard in my spirit when I pondered this statement was actually a question: Will you let God love you?  This question caused me to pause. It didn’t feel like a rebuke or even a challenge; it felt like an invitation. It was as if God was gently saying: I know you better than you know yourself. Yes, you will fail. Yes, you will grow weary. Yes, you may even give up on yourself, but I never will. Will you let Me love you?

I’m realizing I will never be fully free to let God truly lead my life until I embrace how deeply He loves me. Is that hard for you as well? Why is it so difficult to simply let God love us just as we are? It might very well be because of the second thing I’ve been learning. God’s love has always been far more persistent than His people’s faithfulness. As I’ve been reading in the Old Testament lately, I’ve noticed a familiar pattern. In the middle of the wandering, complaining, forgetting, and failing of His people, God consistently behaved in the same manner.

He stayed.

He remained patient.

He kept loving.

God longs not just to instruct His people but to bless them, restore them, and remain with them. Scripture describes this as lavish love. God’s love is not a cautious love. It’s not a conditional love. His love is a lavish love. Consider these words, spoken to a wandering, imperfect people.

“But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations…” Exodus 20:6

“I lavish unfailing love… I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.” Exodus 34:7

“But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations…” Deuteronomy 5:10

Here is what I find even more astonishing. God knew we could never keep His law perfectly. Like the Israelites, we are also a wandering, imperfect people. Despite this He still desires to love us. How do we know? He sent Jesus. Through Christ, God’s love is no longer dependent on our performance, our consistency, or our ability to get it right. No matter how many times we fall short, He stands ready to love us.

So again, I ask: Will you let God love you? What might that look like? There are likely as many answers to that question as there are people, but let me suggest a few, especially for those of us called to teach and lead.

Letting God love you may mean giving yourself grace when you fall short, not only spiritually but also professionally. We’ve all had lessons that didn’t land, moments we have replayed in our minds, and days we wish we could redo. God’s love meets us in those times, too. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Letting God love you may mean embracing how God wired you as an educator—your temperament, your creativity, and your leadership style. It may require trusting that He has placed you exactly where you are for a reason (Psalm 139:4).

Letting God love you may mean coming to Him honestly at the end of a long school day, believing He is still listening, still near, and still attentive to every quiet prayer (James 4:8).

Letting God love you may mean resting in His promises when the work feels unseen, trusting that no act of faithfulness in your classroom is ever wasted (Galatians 6:9).

Christian educator, this invitation is for you. This invitation is not reserved just for those times when all is going well or when you feel energized or effective. Valentine’s Day may have passed, but God’s invitation has not. Before you give another ounce of yourself, God invites you to receive His love right now, right where you are.

Will you let God love you?

“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”  Romans 5:5

---

If You Want Support on Your Journey

·        Subscribe for free at www.victoriouseducator.com  for encouragement and resources.

·        Check out our new book: Taking Jesus to School: The Fruit of the Spirit on Display.

·        Join our Facebook group for community, prayer, and support.

·        Follow Victorious Educator Ministries on Facebook and Instagram and be part of our monthly prayer days.

©  2026