The Inner Critic and the Beloved Part 3
June 11, 2026
The Inner Critic and the Beloved Part 3
The word “beloved” sounds like a romantic term in a novel. Indeed, the word is used in many contexts to refer to lovers and romantic relationships.
Yet the word is also used in a spiritual sense. In Christianity, “The Beloved” refers to both the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the children of God. The word “beloved” is used over 60 times in the New Testament, and is based on the Greek word agapetos, which implies being highly esteemed, cherished, and dear to God.
Major usages include the divine affirmation of Jesus in Matthew 3:17, which reads: "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". And in 1 John 3:2, the apostle said, "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him..."
When we are referred to as the beloved, it means we are cherished by God's and receive God’s deep affection and love. The word “beloved” is not reserved for saints, the holy, or those who may be close to God. Rather, it describes a child of God as seen through God’s eyes. It is comparable to the relationship and unconditional love of a parent for their child. Therefore, each of us who considers ourselves children of God, are one of the Beloved.
It is sometimes challenging for me to think of myself as Beloved by God, because the term carries with it a goodness that I do not consider myself worthy of. There have been too many times when I have fallen short of being a Beloved. Yet when I look at any child, I can readily conceive them as being God’s Beloved. Babies have no dark side; they are innocent of evil. They are primarily involved in learning, wonder, and living in the now, not in ego strategies. It is natural to imagine a child being the Beloved of God. Wasn't I once a child like them? Weren't you also? That child is still within each one of us.
Regardless of how I may view myself, it is clear from scripture that each of us who considers ourselves a child of God is cherished, wanted, and loved by the creator God, whether we see ourselves that way or not—whether we can accept it or not. Look at our divine origin—we sprang from goodness itself, from total love itself… and for the first few years we lived only as a soul, created by that love. We may have carried the seeds of an ego, we may have focused on self-gratification and exerting our will, but we entered life as creatures who, above all, wanted to be loved and to love. I ask again: wasn’t I one of these children? Weren't you also? Isn’t that child still in each of us?
Consider this: If we pulled back all our self-judgments, (rational and irrational) all our transgressions, and all our moral failures, what would be there? Our innocent soul — the little being when we were made. This being is still at our core.
Each of us was intentionally created for a specific purpose, which not only included what was ours to accomplish in life as an expression of the Divine, but to perfect our soul in specific areas—areas that only the soul itself knows must be perfected as we move closer to complete union with God.
If we took the words “be” and “loved,” we could use them in a sentence like this— “we were created to be loved by God.” Joining the two words makes the word beloved—the loved of God. What are the biggest challenges in accepting and living from our belovedness? First is the inner critic, who will never let us accept that we are the Beloved. And second is our not accepting the freely given grace that forgives us completely of all our human failings. But when we can manage the inner critic and accept our lovability, we can live as the beloved we are.
Spiritual practice and self-inquiry: What are your core spiritual qualities that are beloved of God? What are the things that stand in the way of your accepting yourself and living daily as a beloved?
Prayer:
Dear God, I pray to accept my belovedness. I pray to see myself through your eyes of grace rather than through my eyes, which are often dimmed by self-criticism. Amen
