It is a common belief among Christians that God loves us because of something about him (he is love), and not because there is anything attractive or beautiful about us that would draw his love. This can help people feel secure in the fact that his love will never be withdrawn from us, because it doesn't depend on anything that we do - he just loves us, and nothing can ever change that.
But the belief that there is nothing lovable about us, and that God loves us "in spite of" who we are and not because there is something precious and worth loving inside us, can actually be quite damaging. It acts as a shield to deflect God's love, and stops people from being able to receive the love he has for them in a deep way. If you believe at bottom that you are basically unlovable, then it feels dangerous to open your heart to someone who says they love you - because surely they will reject you when they find out how unlovable you really are.
The fact that we are loved means that we are lovable - not just "lovable to God", but really, genuinely beautiful, lovely and worth loving. Whatever God says is true - there is no higher authority, and the highest authority in the universe says that you are worthy of being loved. It is not just in Jesus that you are loved - he loved you as his enemy, he loved you in your sin, and he sought you out as a bride for his Son before you even knew him.
You are worth the blood of Jesus - the most precious thing in the universe. Jesus would not have died for a rock; it wouldn't be worth it. There is no comparison. But your life, having you in his presence, and the joy of being your Father and having a relationship with you, is worth everything and anything to God.
There are some verses that people often think about in relation to this. Isaiah says, "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags". Paul says in Romans 7 that "nothing good lives in me"; earlier on he states that "there is no one who does good, not even one" and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". These verse and others are often used to support the idea that we are basically wretched and unlovable, but God loves us anyway.
"All our righteous acts are like filthy rags": This verse is often distorted to mean that there is nothing we can do that really pleases God - it is all filthy and corrupt, shot through with sin and impure motives, and our best effort is useless and unacceptable to God. It is true that we have never had a one hundred percent pure motive in our lives. But it is a distortion to say that there is nothing we can do to touch God's heart by what we do. He delights in us when we do things for him in the same way that a parent receives and enjoys a young child's efforts and making breakfast for them, even if they make a mess and don't do it right. Our acts of love towards God do not mean nothing to him - they touch his heart and move him deeply. Our worship, things done in secret, acts of love to other people and everything else we do as an expression of our love for God mean so much to him, and he intends to praise us before all of heaven on the last day for the things we did for him.
The other verses quoted above deal with the fact that we have a sinful nature - but there is more to us than that. Paul says in Romans 7 that when he does evil, "it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me". We are not just "sinful people", we are full of precious treasures that God is wanting to draw out of us. Often in personal prophecy the message God gives people is, "*This* is who you are !" Our sinful nature is like a pile of rotten garbage covering the beauty and glory of who we were originally created to be. But the treasure is still there, and is no less valuable for the garbage that covers it.
God is in the process of removing the garbage and bringing to the surface the beautiful things he placed in you from before you were born. Romans 8 says that all of creation is groaning and longing for the day when the "sons of God will be revealed". He can't wait to show you off in your full glory before all of creation - "behold my precious child !"
But God doesn't just love you because of what you will be, or because of your potential - he loves you as you are right now. It is "you" he loves, not just the future you. There is no more life changing truth than this - you are loved, you are delighted in, you are thoroughly beautiful and lovely to your creator, and one glance of your eyes just melts his heart completely (Song of Songs 4:9).