You are precious, honored, loved

In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 43, God tells the people (through the voice of Isaiah) that they are precious, honored, and loved. At the time, the people were probably feeling terrible because they were living in exile. There was grief, loss, poverty, and a sense of alienation. Into that place of brokenness, God offers words of compassion.

In Hebrew (the original language of the Old Testament), the words used in Isaiah, chapter 43 are yaqar (precious), kabad (honored), and ahab (loved).

You are precious. You are honored.
You are loved.

We don’t always feel precious, honored, and loved. In fact, we often don’t feel that way. The original audience of Isaiah likely didn’t feel the truth of God’s words either. But what if we just keep saying them to ourselves anyway? On days when we feel like it, and more commonly, on days when we don’t. Transformation happens in repetition. Precious, honored, and loved. These aren’t your feelings; they are your identity.

This message is excerpted from “Our identity: precious, honored, loved” by Emile Anne Carson from the August 2018 Cafe online magazine.

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