from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Unclean. I was unclean to my very core – thoroughly, completely unlovely.
I had no hope or thought of ever being anything else.

You came to me and saw me for exactly what I was, yet You loved me.
You loved me because of who You were, not because of who I was.
There was not a scrap of worth or attractiveness in me.
You loved me because You are loving, not because I was lovable.

You tenderly, thoroughly cleansed me, and I was clean.
You began to share Yourself with me.
Because You loved me, something of You came to life in me.
You made me something other, something more than I had been in myself.
Your life, Your beauty, Your purity began to glow in me,
though before You, I had not a breath of any of these things.
Because You loved me, I grew lovely,
though the loveliness was Yours, not mine.

You proposed marriage. Such wonderful promises You made!
You promised to envelop me in Your love,
to love me deeply, completely, and forever.
You promised to make me more in You than I could ever be on my own.
You asked only that I be faithful to You—
that I give myself completely and exclusively to You.
You lavished more and more of all Your best on me—
all that You had and all that You were.

Sometimes I forgot that my loveliness was actually Your loveliness, and
I took what You had given me, what You had made me,
and used it selfishly, proudly to serve myself.
Though You were faithful, I was not.
Sometimes You had to let me taste the bitter fruit of the choices I made.

But Your love never gave up on me.
You forgave me, and You drew me back to Yourself.

My Lord, my Love, You are still drawing me closer,
and I am still discovering how Your love can change me, cleanse me, and renew me.

I love You, my Lord!
I am Yours, completely and forever!