Felt Needs

If You’re Not Feeling Loved

by Fr. Mike Schmitz
Photo by Wyron A on Unsplash


If you’re not feeling loved by someone you love, take courage in the story of Leah in Genesis. 

Jacob, Leah’s husband, did not love her. In fact, what’s even worse, he loved her sister, Rachel, instead. Leah named her first three sons out of her hope and desire for her husband to love her, thinking if she bore him sons he would love him. She named her first “Reuben” which means, “Look, a son,” saying, “Now my husband will love me.” She named her second son “Simeon” which means “listening” because she felt the Lord heard her prayer for Jacob to love her. She named her third son “Levi” which means “joined together” because she believed this time her husband will finally be joined to her. 

By the time she had her fourth son, she named him Judah, which means “may God be praised.” She finally stopped trying to make Jacob love her, and instead she let go and let God take over. It’s no coincidence that Jesus would be born from the line of Judah. 

Some people love people the way they know how to love, and the beloved just doesn’t notice. A father may love her daughter through acts of service rather than words of affirmation or quality time. 

Others may simply not love you, but that does not mean you’re unlovable. 

You’re chosen by God for a reason only you can know. Do not wait for someone else to give you the love that God the Father has already given you.

 

Latest content

Fr Columba Jordan CFR
Stop Pouring From an Empty Cup
Do you know how to switch off, or do you just know how to keep going? Fr Columba explores an idea from the philosopher Josef Pi...
Read more
John Mark Comer
Community 04: What We Avoid in Community
What kind of community do we desperately long for, and yet, what are we often unwilling to do to form it?Join John Mark Comer a...
Read more
John Mark Comer
Community 03: Overcoming Shame — The Ancient Enemy of Community
What is the main culprit behind so much disconnection and damage in our relationships?Join John Mark Comer and Shelbi Shutt as ...
Read more
Be Still and Know: Learning to Stop Trying So Hard
Prayer never came easily for me. Most of the time, I either tried too hard or not at all. I would sit down wanting to hear God, but would get lost trying to ‘do prayer right’. I was thinking about what I should say, what I should feel, or how long I should stay quiet before I could say to myself...
Read more