Love Finds You Behind the Mask

The mask is heavy by mid-morning, isn't it? You walk into the light of the office or the street, smiling the right smile, saying the right words, while inside you are bracing for the moment they finally see you.

You feel like a fraud who hasn't paid the price yet, waiting for the bill to come due for all the love you're receiving. But listen — the light does not wait for your performance to be perfect before it shines on you.

There was a man named Zacchaeus, small and despised, hiding in a tree just to catch a glimpse. He had done nothing to earn it.

He had nothing to offer but his curiosity and his shame. Yet the light looked up, called him by name, and said, 'I must stay at your house today.' It did not say: fix yourself first.

It did not say: pay me back what you stole, then we'll talk. It came to his table while he was still a mess.

The love you fear losing is not based on your ability to keep the mask up. It is based on the One who sees behind it and loves what He finds there.

You are not loved because you are good; you are loved because Love itself has made a home in you. Put the armor down.

The price was already paid, long before you ever tried to earn it.