Many people around the world feel unloved. This feeling of being unappreciated, not cherished, and not valued is something that nobody wants, yet many of us feel it at times.

Have you ever felt unloved?

If you ever felt unloved and unwanted, be encouraged by this truth: Jesus loves you and wants you to be His. He's the Lover of the unloved and the unlovable.

Take refuge in these three ways that Jesus showed love for the unloved.

1. He Reached Out to the Socially Outcast and Unwanted

The Bible tells us the story of Christ healing the 10 lepers, the man who was paralysed for 38 years, and that demoniac of Gadara who had the name Legion. In all of these stories, we find one thing in common: Jesus loved the oppressed, the socially outcast, and the unwanted.

Leprosy was a dreaded sickness in biblical times. Every leper was thrown out of society and forced to live in seclusion because the disease was contagious. But Christ came healing lepers, showing them God's love.

He also healed that man who was lying in his mat for a very long time. This man might have felt abandoned and forgotten by God but no, he wasn't forgotten – Christ came to heal him that very instant.

Have you felt forgotten by God? No, you're not.

Christ also came to liberate the Gadarene demoniac who lived alone because of his notorious reputation. Christ had mercy for this man who was oppressed by many demons, and set him free.

Are you alone in your struggle against sin and other demonic influences? Christ wants to liberate you.

2. He Called the Hated and Despised

Of all the people Christ would call to be His followers, we wouldn't believe that He would call a Jewish tax collector named Levi or Matthew. He was probably hated by the Jews, for he collected (or even extorted) taxes from them to be brought to Romans. Yet Christ called Him.

Are you hated by the people for who you are and what you do? Christ loves you and wants you to follow Him.

3. He Died for the Ungodly and Unrighteous

Lastly, Christ came to die for the likes of me and you: sinners without hope if not for God's mercy and grace in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died to fulfill God's will of saving us and making us as His own children: forgiven, accepted, and being sanctified in Christ.

We didn't deserve to be loved by Christ, but He did. He died for all of us, even though He knew that none of us could ever repay Him. He loved us, period.

You Are Loved

Friend, God loves you so much that He sent His one and only begotten Son to save you by His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave (see John 3:16). Don't think you are unloved, because in Christ, you are forever loved (see Romans 8).