She has every reason not to like me. She’s known me for almost 30 years so I’ve given her LOTS of reasons. When she was my college roommate in the early 90s, I left her corrective Post-it notes when the dishes weren’t done and when the tea pitcher left brown stains on the counter. As my friend, she has to tolerate my need to plan and schedule and feel in control. She eats where I want to eat and meets when I want to meet and she has to bend to my OCD-like whims and boundaries.

But since I’ve been 18, my best friend Nicole has chosen me. Recently when we met for lunch, she reminded me, “I choose you.”

Those words are chocolate for my soul.

We need people in our lives who choose us. Some people tolerate us. Our coworkers are forced to cooperate with us. Our relatives have no choice but be related to us. Fellow Christians are commanded by Jesus to love us.

But some friends choose us.

Let that sink in for a minute.  We all have a gargantuan longing deep in our hearts to be chosen. To be significant to someone. To be valued. To be cherished. To be loved. To feel secure in a relationship.

So much of our personalities are shaped by the pain that comes when people don’t choose us. When we are bullied. When we are betrayed. When we are left out. When we are abused. When we are divorced.

Rejection causes us to question our significance and worth. We wonder what we did wrong and why aren’t we good enough and will we ever fit in. And so we learn how to say the right things and try too hard and kiss up to others in order to feel loved.

Our fear of rejection drives our behavior.

This world is brutal and hurt people are busy hurting people. It is a fact of life that some will bully us. Some will betray us. Some will forget about us.

But some – the rare true friends – will CHOOSE us

Your true friends are those that CHOOSE you. Those who have been with you, lived with you, know your quirks, know your weaknesses, have seen your bad side, have been hurt by you, and have been failed by you, but they CHOOSE you anyway.

The day after my friend Nicole told me that she chose me, I came across a powerful verse in the Bible. In John 15:16, Jesus said,

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”

We are chosen. Jesus has been with you, lived with you, knows your quirks, knows your weaknesses, has seen your bad side, has been hurt by you, and has been failed by you, but He CHOOSES you anyway. He will never change His mind about you. He chooses you forever and for always.

Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ…(Ephesians 1:4a._

How does that make you feel? To Jesus, you are good enough. You are loved. You are valued. You are significant. You will not be bullied or divorced or abused or abandoned or betrayed by Him. Ever. Never. No matter who you are or what you do.

You are chosen.
Yes, you, even you, the one who is saying “Not me, I’m not good enough…”
Jesus chooses you, too.

And me. Hallelujah.

I pray that God has given you special friends who have chosen you. And if you don’t have that friend yet, pray for God to send him or her. And while you wait in faith, remember that there is a friend, Jesus, who chooses you.

Listen to Him whisper in your ear these powerful words today, “I choose you.”

“I choose you.”

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