How do you choose love, even when you don’t feel like it? As a Christian, I’m called to love, but it’s not easy. In fact, it’s easier to overlook or ignore rather than to chose love.
Something has happened to me lately.
In the shadow of my grandma’s death, something has stirred in my soul. It started as the faintest whisper but as every day passes, the voice gets louder.
Do something. Do anything to let the people in your life know how much you love them.
The minutes are dripping like water through a sieve. Time is escaping me. I feel unable to keep up with these extraordinary feelings, overwhelming thoughts, and the desire to let every person know that they are loved… that I love them.
Usually when I sit down in front of my computer, the words that I can’t speak, flow with ease out of my fingertips but I’m at a loss to describe this feeling, this urgency… to let others know that they are loved.
The thing is, I don’t want to just tell them, I want to show them.
I am desperate to show my love. I feel like I’m a balloon being blown up and the pressure inside of me is so intense, so strong, I’m afraid of bursting.
This love needs to find its way out. It needs to travel across oceans, it needs to embrace the hurt, it needs to cross economic barriers, and fall upon those who need it. This indescribable love….
My grandma loved. She really, truly, loved. She was a beautiful example of Jesus’ two commandments to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind [and to] love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 37-40)
Perhaps this desire in me is because I wish to carry on my grandma’s legacy. Perhaps this is all part of the grieving process. Even if it’s part of the grieving process, I don’t want to lose this desire to just shower my love on others.
Maybe you understand? Maybe you’ve felt this at some point in time?
Every moment is precious.
It may sound cliche but we’ve got this opportunity to love and be loved. To give, to create, and to inspire. To cherish, to delight, and to be overwhelmed by the glory and grandeur of life.
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE LOVE?
Life is full of choices. You can’t go wrong if you choose love. Yet the question remains, how do you choose love (even if you don’t feel like it)?
Take a moment and read Matthew 22:37-40.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (ESV)
Those words are convicting, aren’t they? If we meditate on these two laws and live our lives according to these commands, we WILL choose love… even when it’s difficult to love.
If you still struggle to love then take these steps:
- Get into prayer. Ask God to help you love others.
- If you have unforgiveness in your heart, ask the Lord for His help you to forgive.
- Always remember how much God love you.
- Dwell on scriptures that speak about love (especially Matthew 22: 37-40)
I’m going to live my life the Matthew 22: 37-40 way.
I’ve wasted so much time not loving enough and not giving enough. I want to give all of me, to everyone I encounter, and not just friends and colleagues. I want to love everyone with no exceptions.
Whether you’re single or married; male or female; employed or unemployed; rich or poor; there is always love. Love can never be lost or wasted. Love is yours to receive and yours to give.
Will you join me? Will you choose love above all else? Will you put aside anger, fear of rejection, apathy, and resentment? Will you follow those two key commandments and commit your life to love?
When you walk away from the words on this screen, how will you choose love?
Life is full of choices. You can't go wrong it you choose love. #love #Christianity Click To Tweet
Oh Jennifer. You’ve brought tears to my eyes. What an amazing way to feel. Choosing love above all else is how we all should live our lives. Nothing else matters if we don’t love those that mean the most to us above all else. You are exactly right. You can’t go wrong if you choose love.
xoxo
So glad you enjoyed this Tiffany… that means I’ve expressed a bit of what I’m feeling. This love is pouring out of me and I have no way to properly describe it.
Wishing you a beautiful day full of love.
xoxo
What a beautiful post, I will do something special in honor of your grandmother for my family. Sending you hugs!!
Thank you Tara! I would love to hear how you choose (and show) love to your family.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
In honor of your grandmother, I’m going to get off this computer and go outside to give my family the biggest hugs ever. They’ll be surprised because I was escaping inside while they were gardening because I needed alone time.
I don’t think I do anymore.
Thank you Tamara… for choosing love. I want to choose it all the time, in every situation, in every circumstance.
:)) tears of happiness in my eyes! ow true!
Glad you enjoyed this Z! Love is beautiful… I hope your day is full of it.
Hi Jennifer! If ever there was a woman on fire, it is you. God is just lighting you up with so much love, you can’t contain it anymore. So out it goes into your blog community and family too. What an honor to your Grandmother too. Do you have any idea how proud she is of you right now??
You go girl! Go light up your world, just like you are lighting ours here.
Ceil
Thank you Ceil… you made me misty-eyed my friend.
I pray that this love will spread to all ends of the earth by any means God moves it. I pray that my love (which I feel so inadequate in describing) gives a small glimpse of the love that our Lord has to offer. His love is pure… I pray everyone can see and feel it.
Wishing you a blessed day my friend.
So inspiring! The declaration of love in itself generates more love and spreads it throughout! LOVE FOR EVERYONE!
Thanks my friend… this love, it IS contagious. I am thankful for the love I have received and all the love I have to give.
Yes, this is awesome – when my nephew passed away last month, my SIL post was called Love wins! She is now encouraging us to choose love in all circumstances. This ties in exactly with that. Thanks for the encouragement!
Oh my goodness Caroline… that is what keeps going through my head… choose love, choose love. In all circumstances choose love. There are no regrets if you choose love. There is always more love if you choose love.
I would love to read that post, can you forward it to me?
Blessings to you my friend. I’m so glad I could encourage you… as you have encouraged and blessed me in so many ways.
perfect, my dear.
I live by that, I don’t always succeed, but it’s my motto. life is short, love well.
so….DID you get the replacement tank???????
So glad you enjoyed this and that you choose love too.
I did get the replacement tank! Thanks Cory! It’s lovely and has done well with its first wash.
Wishing you a lovely day.
Jennifer, this is simply beautiful. Choosing to love with you today!
Thank you so much Margaret. I’m excited you’re choosing love too… let’s make this love contagious!
I am currently reading book with my women’s Bible Study groups called Love Does by Bob Goff. Have you read it?? If not, you should. It is about how love is an action, not just a feeling. It really goes along with how you are feeling and what you have shard int his post!
I haven’t read that book Lisa, but now I’m really interested. Thanks for sharing, I’ll have to check it out.
Love this post Jennifer, it’s so inspiring and uplifting. I don’t know you or your grandmother personally, but I just have a feeling from the way you’ve communicated with me thru the blogisphere that you will definitely carry on her loving legacy. You seem to be very loving by nature. And in honor of your grandmother, I’m going to go give some love right now to Piggie, shower him with hugs and kisses before he’s off to bed :) Thank you for such a lovely reminder of what matters in life.
Thank you for your kind words Jessica. I hope that I do carry on her legacy. If anything, I wrote this post to remind myself to choose love in everything… in every situation, in every circumstance, with every person. I hope that it encourages others to do so as well. Thank you for choosing love Jessica.
I just read an inspiring story of loss and grief from one of my blogger friends. It too has urged me too really LOVE today. Great post Jennifer
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Jennifer. I’m hearing echoes of love all around me. It’s beautiful and I think we’re coming together in this amazing way for a reason and a greater purpose as willed by God.
Thank you for choosing love. Wishing you a lovely day.
Oh how I love this post Jennifer. There is no greater gift than love, well true love. I remember when I lost my dad a year and a half ago, I thought that it would have been impossible to love after that because he showed me unconditional love. Then I realized that if I show love (unconditionally) not only would I feel at peace but so would others. Love is such an amazing thing and it feels good to be loved and to show love, not just say it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post Amanda. I find it amazing that out of loss, we could feel such love… but then again, it was through the death of our Saviour that we accepted, that were given the gift to love in this manner. Such a powerful feeling and an amazing action… to pour our love out for one another. This is the way I wish to live… fully and completely loving.
I love this post, because it’s been something that’s been on my mind a lot lately. We need to make sure the people we love know it…before it’s too late.
Thank you Michelle. I’m hearing lots of echoes of this around me right now. A movement of love… beautiful!
Isn’t the light brighter, the sounds louder, the air fresher when you come to the conclusion that, as the Beatles so eloquently put it, all you need is love? My family and I have been cultivating the Tao for years now and many of Buddha’s words are similar to those of God in Christian faith : Love all with a mother’s heart, I am them and they are me, loving requires no effort because it comes naturally from our Buddha Heart. Love freely and love greatly and people will know! :-) Feeling blessed after reading this. Thank you for sharing.
I’m glad that this post blessed you Yanic.
Wishing you much love and blessings.
Beautifully put. More love. Something we can all get behind.
Thank you Shecki! Wishing you more love too!
It is so true that we take our moments (and families and friends…) for granted! It is often when something shifts our perspective that we are able to see the importance of what you’ve written! I am certain those around you feel loved!
Thank you Sanz. I hope that I can share and spread my love to everyone around me. I want to choose love with every person I encounter and in every circumstance.
Wishing you a blessed day.
This is precious Jennifer. I think you are probably right about the onset of these feelings. After the loss of our pre-born son, God poured His love on me in a way that I had never known before. It was hard to describe – and still is – but, because I was loved so tenderly, so amazingly, I was overflowing with gratitude that compelled me to pour it out on others. I remember that time with sweet joy. I also remember, as days passed into weeks and I eased back into life, that the overwhelming ease to pour love out didn’t come quite as easily. I began to wonder what I had done wrong – how I had lost that sweet time of being so carried by Grace. I believe now it was part of the healing process. God carried me when I couldn’t “walk” alone, and although He has never left or forsaken me, He did put me back on wobbly legs to walk with hesitating steps again. Of course, I fell – hard – quite a few times. But, He always picked me up again and helped me take another step.
Thank you so much for sharing. It blessed my heart – as it seems it has done for many others too. Thank you for sparking a flame of love. Have a beautiful day!
Thank you for sharing Karen. What an amazing testimony you’ve shared there.
I am so glad this blessed you. It is my wish to choose love in every circumstance. I pray that this inspires others to do so as well.
Wishing you a blessed day.
This was such a beautiful post! I am such a huge believer in the power of love.. I used to never show the people in my life how much I truly cared about them until it was too late, so I started to change and live as if today is my only chance to remind them of my love (as cliche as that sounds). It has helped me feel better and most importantly helped my relationships stay strong! Wishing you the best of luck! xxo
Thank you Kristy, I’m delighted you enjoyed this post.
I feel I have so much love to give, it almost aches. I pray that I can share this love in every circumstance and with every person I encounter.
Thanks for visiting.
xoxo
Well, I just love you for writing something SO beautiful. We never know when will be the last time we see someone, or how desperately someone may need to hear or feel that love. We just never know.
I hate sometimes how we lose that urgency when things feel normal. We forget how important this is. Every. Single. Day.
Thank you for this beautiful reminder…to love…deeply…and profoundly.
What a wonderful way to write on the wall of life.
~Topaz xo
Thank you Topaz. I pray that this inspires others to love more, to love deeply, and to choose love in every situation and with every person they encounter.
Lovely post Jenn! I still have my grandmother alive she is 84 and she is not my grandmother SHE IS MY MOTHER she raise me and I can imagine your feelings. I will send you lots of hugs and best wishes my dear friend. xoxo
Thank you so much Remy. These bonds we make are so great… I know that’s one of the reasons why I am feeling this love so intensely.
This is a beautifully written post and a wonderful dedication to your grandmother. When someone touches our lives with that kind of depth they truly live on through us and the ways we chose to remember them by living by their examples. Thank you for reminding us how important love is in our lives and encouraging us to live with love in our hearts.
Thank you my friend and thank you for choosing love as well.
Such a beautiful post. I’m so sorry about the loss of your grandma. God bless. xo
~ Wendy
Thank you for your kind words and sympathy Wendy.
Blessings to you as well.
xoxo
I ‘feel’ you so strongly on this one; I felt (feel!) this after my sister’s death…the things that are really meaningful and important become suddenly SO clear. Like LOVING! Like lifting. Like serving.
Thanks for this, Jennifer. You’re the best.
Oh bless you Laura. It’s so reassuring when someone “gets” you… like really gets you. Thank you for sharing your experience with these intense emotions of love too.
Wishing you a lovely day.
I remember this post! I remember how much I loved it (and still do) because after my nephew passed away, my SIL’s motto was Love Wins – it’s still something we often say!!!! Love trumps all, even the pain without him here
Yes… love always wins. Thank you Caroline for sharing and for journeying through 2014 with me!
Happy New Year!