Mark Schultz, “What It Means to Be Loved”

Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Mark Schultz is one of my favorite songwriters of all time. Few Christian songwriters know how to turn a lyric the way Schultz has, and with several chart-topping Christian songs to his songwriting credit, including the tear-jerking Letters From War, the emotional He’s My Son, and the inspiring You Are a Child of Mine (I can’t even begin to tell you how I wept listening to album track Do You Even Know Me Anymore from 2003’s Stories and Songs, or the adoption song Everything To Me from 2007’s Broken and Beautiful), Schultz remains one of the most influential storytellers in Christian music today.

A few months back, Schultz made a triumphant return to form with Come Alive, his first album of original material in three years. The carrier single, He Is, did well on Christian AC, as did follow-up Love Has Come. The third single, however, is the single with real potential: What It Means to Be Loved is a story of faith in the midst of odds stacked against you. Not unlike Matthew West’s recent holiday hit, One Last Christmas, in which the protagonist ultimately dies, What It Means to be Loved is a story of triumph, and one that will both inspire and challenge its listeners. Based on a true story, What It Means to be Loved tells the tale of a father and mother who decide to raise their child that doctors say would not live a year, and the results when they place their trust in God to save their little girl. Prepare your tissues. Schultz himself says on his website, “To me, what the song says is that we as Christians are called to love. If that means loving a baby that’s going to be here for 7 minutes or 70 years, it doesn’t make any difference, you just wrap your arms around them and pour yourself into them.” You can read the rest of the story here.

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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LOVED Lyrics
Mark Schultz

For five months and eight days
My wife and I had waited
Gettin’ ready for our baby girl
But when he called the doctor said
“I need to see you and could you come in soon”
Then something died inside of me
To sit with him and hear the tests that said
Our baby may not live to be a year
Then turnin’ to my wife
And he said “Whatya you wanna do?”
and she said

I wanna give her the world
I wanna hold her hand
I wanna be her mom for as long as I can
and I wanna live every moment until that day comes
I wanna show her what it means to be loved

So we spent each day
Watching every minute
And praying for our baby girl
And I will not forget the way I felt that moment
When she came into this world
But they took her from the room just as soon as she was born
And watchin’ through a window I could see her holdin’ on
When a voice inside me said…

I wanna give her the world
I wanna be her dad
I wanna hold her close for as long as I can
And I wanna live every moment until that day comes
I wanna show her what it means to be loved

I said every day
We’ve got to bring her home
She’s been out to prove the doctors wrong
oh and you should see her now
she’s as pretty as her mom
And there’s a boy at the front door waiting
Just to take her to her high school prom…

And he wants to give her the world
Wants to hold her hand
And someday she may get a wedding band
But she’s gonna live every moment until that day comes
And we’re gonna show her what it means to be loved

Oh yeah (what it means to be loved)

Show her what it means to be loved
What it means to be loved

Child of God • Husband • Father • Author • Food Blogger & Vlogger ••• Canberra, AU Welcome to my food blog! Currently in Canberra, AU until 2022! More than just food, though, I write about family, fun, and faith. Come join the journey!