From the moment we are born until the day we die, what do we need more than anything, in addition to air and water? Love. To be loved and to be able to give love. This is the emotional equivalent of physically inhaling and exhaling.

And I think it’s fitting to think of it in those terms. For, as the story goes, the first person was formed from dust. And only when God breathed into him did the man exist as more than just a product of the earth. With that breath in his lungs, Adam woke up to the knowledge that he was made for a purpose – and that he was loved. And a short time later, he came to be loved not only by the One who had breathed into him but also by the one who was taken from his side.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s easy for me to get frustrated, impatient, or angry with self/others. And at the root of it all, I think there is a degrading belief that I came from dust so I’m not worth any more than dust, and the people around me came from dust so they’re not worth much more than dust either. This realization sobers me.

While it’s true and humbling to recall we have come from dust, we are filled with so much more than that. And though we have messed up or let others down, when we are refilled with the love we need, there is a potential in us to BE so much more than that.

Scripture speaks to this too. God is a Potter and we are wet clay in His hands. He’s not giving up on His work until all of our edges are smooth and all of our imbalanced spots are evened out. Just like dust gains limitless value when it houses heavenly breath, wet clay gathers infinite worth under the touch of the most masterful Artist.

Take a moment today to deeply breathe in and out, to feel the worth you carry deep inside…

YOU ARE LOVED. 💛