The Most True Thing

Amy Oden

Church of the Resurrection Insights Blog

Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus’ own baptism sets the pattern for all of us. The Spirit proclaims, “This is my beloved!”

Belovedness. That’s what baptism is about. In baptism we are named as beloved. This is most true thing about us, even before we become who we will become over our lifetimes.

Through our lifetime, we will be pummeled with worldly messages that tell us otherwise. That tell us we are failures or not good enough or don’t count. We will internalize those voices and tell ourselves these things. We will project them onto others, causing harm.

So Jesus gives us this foundational practice that stands as a witness to the most true thing about us: our belovedness, the belovedness of all. In baptism, God calls forth our belovedness. We as participate in baptism, we embrace who God says we are.

How might you walk through this day, embracing the most true thing about you, your belovedness?