O LORD, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me. You know my downsitting and my uprising; You understand my thought afar off. You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and You are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:1-2, Amplified)

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you… (Jeremiah 1:5, ESV)

Have you ever had the thought, “If people really knew me, knew my weaknesses, knew my failings, knew my secrets, they wouldn’t like me anymore. They wouldn’t love me anymore”?

Is there a side of you that everyone sees, while hidden within is the you that you never want anyone to see? It’s a lonely place to feel unknown for fear of being unloved. But there is One Who has always known you. There is One Who has always loved you.

I think of the madman of Gadara. A man possessed of devils, living among the tombs, frightening everyone in that area. Others saw him and were repulsed by him and feared him. Jesus saw Him, knew Him and loved Him.

The woman caught in adultery, her secret failings and sins were put on display for all to see. He knew what she had done. He knew her and He loved her.

Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. He knew them and He loved them.

As He dined in a Pharisees home a woman came and anointed his feet with oil. Washed His feet with her tears. Dried His feet with her hair. The Pharisee thought to himself if Jesus knew who was touching Him, a sinful, outcast of a woman, He wouldn’t allow it. But Jesus knew who she was. He knew what she had done. He knew her and He loved her. His love set her free.

He knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He knows every intimate detail of your life. He knows you and He loves you.

People may or may not ever get to know the real you. People may or may not love the real you. But always remember that there is One that has always known you and One that will always love you.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized you that He sent His Son for you (John 3:16).