What The Bachelor Taught Me About Significance

 

 

It’s no secret that I enjoy watching The Bachelor.

My mom and I used to watch Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor together every Monday night. Even after she went to her nursing home I would go up there on Mondays to make sure her TV was on ABC by 7:00. The two shows are no longer on back to back, but those memories with my mom are some of the best.

(I have to add this little anecdote here – One night we were eating popcorn during the show, and mom dropped a kernel. Our family dog Chandler leaped over the coffee table and into mom’s lap to get it, which resulted in mom freaking out and knocking the bowl off her lap. Score! I think Chan knew what she was doing!)

So, anyway, The Bachelor.

My favorite parts of the show are the dates and the exotic locations. Who wouldn’t want a chance at that? Forget the bachelor. Give me the travel! I also like to see just what these gals are going to wear. It blows my mind that some contestants openly share that they spend tens of thousands of dollars on their wardrobe and makeup to take with them on the show!

At the end of every episode we watch the “eliminated” contestants ride home in a limo, mascara smeared all down their faces, and they almost always say the same things:

“What is wrong with me?”

“Why does nobody love me?”

“Where is my Prince Charming?”

These are all questions we ladies ask ourselves from time to time in our lives. Fortunately, we don’t have a camera and 30 million viewers at home watching us break down. I hurt for those girls each week. Some of you may be thinking, well, if they go on the show they are just asking for it. And yes, being on a reality dating show is allowing potential public humiliation. However, what hurts me is how badly those girls want to be loved. To be significant to someone.

Because they are significant. And so are you.

You may not be loved by the Bachelor of the year, but you are forever loved by someone far greater. God tells us over and over in Scripture that we are infinitely loved. One of my favorite passages in all of the Bible is Psalm 139.

 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

Psalm 139:13-16 (MSG)

 

 

We are a reflection of God’s love and goodness. We were divinely created with a purpose and significance. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We cannot allow this world to teach us that we aren’t.

God’s Word continually reminds us not just of who we are, but whose we are.

You matter.

You are wanted.

You are loved.