Over the past couple years, I have been thinking a lot about love. For years I have been trying to figure out love: What it is, what it looks like, what is feels like. Although I still don't have a solid answer (and maybe I never will), I do know this: Love is a process. When I sit down and think about it, there's almost a sequence to it. To me, love is broken down into three parts: Love God, Love Yourself, and Love Others. So let's explore that, shall we?
1. Love God
"Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."
John 14:21
Love requires action. It's not just a thought or an idea. When we love people, we feel a need to show that love. Whether that be physically, verbally or emotionally, it is an act. How can my actions show God that I love Him? He's so amazing and I am so simple. How can I make myself known to Him? Obedience. That's all He asks of us. Something so simple but something we all struggle with. Myself, on a daily basis. We aren't what we need to be, but we progress towards it every day. Just as love is a process, so is obedience. As our love for God grows, so does our desire to obey Him.
It helps to know that no matter what we do, He will never stop loving us. That's the kind of love we have to extend to ourselves and others.
2. Love Yourself
Let me preface by saying this: loving yourself does not mean glorifying yourself. It is healthy and necessary to have a certain love for yourself. After all, how can we love others if we don't love ourselves?
As a female in today's society, I compare myself to society's standard of beauty quite frequently. This creates in me a sense of self doubt. Although I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I used to be on the self-love scale, there is still room for growth. I have found that consciously combating those negative thoughts can help boost my own self-love. No longer do I feel the need to succumb to self-deprecation every time I look in the mirror or step on a scale.
"For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."
Psalm 139: 13-14
How awesome is that? To know that everything God made is beautiful, including you! This is a mantra I repeat to myself in moments of doubt and I challenge you to do the same. Don't let moments of weakness hinder your love for yourself. Because once you can fully love yourself and be confident in your own worth, you can truly begin to love others. After all, you cannot give away something you don't already have in you.
3. Love Others
"We love because He first loved us."
1 John 4:19
God's love is a gift to us. We can't take that and hold it inside of us where it will only lie dormant. This kind of love is meant to be shared.
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."
1 John 3:16-18
It all comes down to our actions. Move with love. In all that you do, do it with love and kindness. Let others see the God in you through the love that you show them through your actions. Even the smallest actions can make the largest impact in someone's day or even in their life. We never know what people are going through and how our actions, big or small, may impact them for better or for worse.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
