Ever felt “different” because you were a Christian? If you answered “yes”, that’s not actually a bad thing. As a follower of Christ, you’ve been chosen by God and set apart from this world to live out the calling He’s placed on your life. Live in such a way that your life reflects the saving work that Jesus did for you on the cross — and the work that He continues to do in and through you every single day.

God blessed the Jews out of His love for them. He protected them from countless attempts to destroy the Jewish nation over thousands of years. When Jesus, a Jew, died on the cross, God raised Him from the dead to make salvation possible — not only for the Jews, but each one of us. The only way into God’s family is through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Have you ever stopped — really stopped — to marvel at the fact that God chose you? He chose you to be adopted into His family, before the world was ever created, and there’s nothing you can do to change His love for you! The sacrifice He made by sending His Son to die on the cross was a bittersweet moment, because all the pain He endured was worth it to Him in order to have us as a part of His family.

Have you ever faced rejection? If you answered “yes”, you’re far from alone. But here’s the really, really Good News: God chose you before the foundation of the world — and the sacrifice He made in order to have you was the death of His only Son. He loves us enough to have paid the ultimate price, but we still have to make the choice to choose Him back.

God has picked you to be His child — a prince or a princess in His Kingdom! He equips you with what you need in order to accomplish His purpose for your life. He chose you because He wants you — so rest in that truth today.

In God’s family, there are no strangers. There are no rejects. There are no outcasts. There are only beloved children of God. When we stand up and proclaim His name, we might be rejected by the world, but we can take confidence in knowing that we’re not only accepted by the Lord of the universe — we’re chosen by Him, too.

It sounds surprising to skeptics and non-believers, but Christianity isn’t based on feeling — it’s based on fact. The fact is, God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us, and nothing we do can change the fact that He chooses to love us. In the same way, we can’t allow our faith to waver with our feelings, but instead, we can choose to believe the truth of His love as our basis for our devotion to Him.

Long before we started trading paper valentines, God gave us the ultimate Valentine in His love letter to us: the Bible. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His own Son on our behalf and chose us to be His beloved — now and forever. The question is: have we chosen Him in return?

Just like Jesus picked His disciples to walk with Him during His earthly ministry, Scripture tells us that God has chosen us for the privilege of being in relationship with Him. We can choose to stay rooted in our past and find reasons why He shouldn’t pick us. Or, we can accept His love for us and choose to move forward in a life of obedience to Him!