How Do You Live Love?

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Reflections

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Posted On June 10, 2018

How Do You Live Love?

We often make life complicated. We question whether we’re good or bad. Wonder if we measure up to some arbitrary standard we’ve set for ourselves. Judge and compare ourselves to others.

All this mind chatter creates an on-going battle within our heads.

Jesus simplified life’s complications by summing up what it means to be a good person in one instruction: Love God. Love Yourself. Love others. (Mark 12:31). He called this simple formula for right-living, the law of love.

Perhaps life is that simple. Live Love. Live the law of love.

Each night, we can look back over the day’s events and ask ourselves three questions. Did I love myself today? Did I love God? Did I love others?

If we can answer yesto all three, it’s been a good day. If not, we can ponder which of these three questions we need to work on tomorrow.

Many of us, myself included, struggle with self-love. We were either taught that it’s selfish to love ourselves—or we went overboard and became too protective, too self-centered.

The three-part law of love teaches us balance, wholeness. We can’t love others unconditionally unless we love ourselves. Unconditionally. And learning to love ourselves comes from loving God—letting the Creator remind us we are good because he created us in his image. Good.

I wonder what the world would be like if we all practiced the law of love. What would happen if each of one of us loved ourselves, God, and others—every day?

When I’m able let God love me, I develop a healthy self-respect. I feel comfortable in my own skin. I let myself rest in who I am.

Then, by loving God and myself, my heart opens to loving others. When someone is angry with me, rather than becoming defensive, I pause to connect with God’s spirit so I can respond with love.

The spiritual life is simple. But it takes practice. By returning to the basics—living the law of love one day at a time—bit-by-bit we come into a right relationship with ourselves, others, and God. We develop the spiritual tool of living love.

And at the end of each day, try checking-in with yourself on how you’re living love by asking three simple, yet important questions:

Did I love God?
Did I love myself?
Did I love others?

—brian j plachta
brianplachta.net

Written by Brian J. Plachta

Following the Breadcrumbs God Leaves Along Our Path

What if God is speaking through ordinary moments more often than we realize?

A conversation that stays with us. A door that closes. A quiet nudge we can’t quite explain. An unexpected invitation that seems to come at just the right time.

The challenge is learning to notice these moments before we have any idea where they’re leading, and trusting the next step.

Over time, we may begin to see that God’s guidance doesn’t always come as an answer. Sometimes, it comes as a trail.

What to Do When God Seems Silent

Has silence ever made you feel like God is far away? When we feel this way, it’s easy to start looking for answers or waiting for a clear sign. But prayer can also be as simple as slowing down and noticing what’s already here. The breeze. The waves. Your breath. The quiet. God’s presence doesn’t always come through words. Sometimes we just need to be still enough to notice.

Let God Alone Define You

Ever have someone’s words get stuck in your head?
Maybe they criticized you, misunderstood you, or told a story about you that doesn’t feel true. And before long, you’re holding a courtroom in your mind—defending yourself, replaying the conversation, wondering if maybe they’re right.

There’s another way.

Bring it into the quiet with God.

Ask: Is there something here I need to learn? Is there something I need to own? And what was never mine to carry in the first place?

We can stay humble enough to receive the truth without letting someone else’s opinion become our identity.

Because in the end, God alone defines you.

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