Season to Love

How do you live?

Famed theologian Dallas Willard said:  “To live in love is the morally good and right way to live.”

Can you think of a better way?

What is important to you today?

In Rachel Macy Stafford's book ONLY LOVE TODAY, she calls us to love, only love.  Her conclusion, on page 319, sums it up:

Love is the only thing required of you right now.

And if love is the only thing you do today,

that is enough.

On page 322, she challenges us:

In the presence of love,

nothing else needs to be accomplished 

because no task is more important or more urgent than love.

Does that clarify life for you?

Does that relieve you of all the other things on your to-do-list today?

Focus.  Prioritize.  Discipline yourself, to love.

That is our greatest gift to ourselves, those around us, and our world.

"Love means loving even if it is not reciprocated."

page 136
Words of Comfort for Every Day

Are we hurting yet?

Do some loving thinking...

Joyce Meyer, in her classic book, Battlefield of the Mind, challenged us to "Do some 'love thinking'." [page 172]  I think she has something there.  If our mind can think loving thoughts, we will have more loving behavior.  That would make the world better, and our hearts more peaceful.  

Love is an Active Duty of Encouragement

"Love is an active duty, 

And encouragement,

As a biblical command,

Requires us to take the initiative."

Gary Thomas

Born worthy of love...made to live and love...

''I think midlife is when the universe gently places her hands upon your shoulders, pulls you close, and whispers in your ear:
I’m not screwing around. It’s time. All of this pretending and performing – these coping mechanisms that you’ve developed to protect yourself from feeling inadequate and getting hurt – has to go.

Your armor is preventing you from growing into your gifts. I understand that you needed these protections when you were small. I understand that you believed your armor could help you secure all of the things you needed to feel worthy of love and belonging, but you’re still searching and you’re more lost than ever.

Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you. You can’t live the rest of your life worried about what other people think. You were born worthy of love and belonging. Courage and daring are coursing through you. You were made to live and love with your whole heart. It’s time to show up and be seen.''

~ Brené Brown

What are you choosing over love?

Today I will choose love.
I will choose love until it becomes my first response...
I will choose love until it becomes who I am.

Let love start this day.
Let love end this day.
Let love transform the minutes in between.

(from Only Love Today:  Reminders to Breathe More, Stress Less, and Choose Love ~  by Rachel Macy Stafford)

What's your point?

I told my husband the other day:

"The point is not how much sin they have, but how much love I have."

I would add, "The point is not how wrong they are, or how right I am, but how much love I show."

Can't we get it?  The point is always love.  

Fasting during Lent?

During this time of Lent, I found this quote:

"Decrease is only holy if its destination is love."

Where do your decreases lead you?

Let all lead you to love.

How big is your world

What is your overriding principle of life?

"Living in love is the greatest principle of all."

Alexander Loyd
THE LOVE CODE

To Love and to CHERISH

Love is the athletics of marriage.  Cherish is the art.
Love is the muscle, cherish is the heart.
Love is the narrative, cherish is the poetry.
Love is the work, cherish is the dance.
Love may cause you to wince, cherish will make you smile.

Gary Thomas

Love can come from Brokenness ~ Love is always Sacrifice

"Love is the most characteristic and comprehensive act of the human being."
page 168

"Love only comes to those brave enough to risk being brokenhearted."
page 214

"Don't we all have to unlearn fear before we can truly learn to love?"
page 214

"To love is to suffer."
page 238

"Love is not always agreement with someone, but it is always sacrifice for someone."
page 109


Ann Voskamp
The Broken Way

Doing something to be loved is a trap ~ Doing something because you are loved is freeing

Excerpt pulled from Devotionals Daily by Faithgateway email for today:

Because I Am Loved by Lysa TerKeurst, from Made To Crave Devotional

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. — 1 Peter 5:6 Thought for the Day: Doing something in order to be loved is a trap, but doing something because I am loved is incredibly freeing. My friend Kathrine Lee once said to me, “The first time I lost weight, I did it so that I’d be loved — and I gained all the weight back. This time around I’m losing weight because I am loved, and it’s made all the difference in keeping the weight off.” The truth of her statement struck me profoundly. And it applies to so much more than just weight loss. Doing something so that we’ll be loved is a trap many of us can get caught in. When I do something because I’m trying to get someone else to notice me, appreciate me, say something to build me up, or respect me more, my motives get skewed. I become very me-focused. I put unrealistic expectations on myself and the other person. And I can get stinkin’ angry when I don’t feel adequately noticed, appreciated, or respected. But doing something because I am loved is incredibly freeing. Instead of looking at a relationship from the vantage point of what I stand to gain, I look instead at what I have the opportunity to give. I am God-focused and love-directed. I keep my expectations in check. And I am able to lavish on others the grace I know I so desperately need. I live free from regret, with clarity of heart, mind, and soul. The apostle Paul wrote, But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. — 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:1 NLT And you want to know what chips away at the security of knowing I am loved? The noisy lies of the enemy. He has no love in him; therefore his voice is useless. Are your efforts toward your goal hounded by clanging thoughts of inadequacy, fears of rejection, and hopelessness? Reject those clamorous thoughts and replace them with the love thoughts that God has sent our way through the ages: Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. — 1 Peter 5:6-10 Isn’t it interesting how much easier it is to apply Scripture when we’re doing it because we’re loved? Consider how this applies to the passage from 1 Peter: Because I am loved, I can humble myself. When I’m trying to be loved, I must build myself up to look better. Because I am loved, I can cast all my anxiety on Him. When I’m trying to be loved, I cast all my anxiety on my performance. Because I am loved, I resist Satan and stand firm in my faith. When I’m trying to be loved, I listen to Satan and stand shaky in my feelings. Because I am loved, I know God will use trials to make me stronger. When I’m trying to be loved, I wonder why God would allow trials. Indeed, I want to pursue my goals — health and otherwise — from the vantage point of my friend Kathrine. Because I am loved. That’s when my motives stay pure and my heart stays grounded in the comfort and assurance of God’s never-changing love.

Just one small thing...

"It's strange how...everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to do the small thing that makes just one person feel loved."

page 74
The Broken Way
Ann Voskamp

Maturity & Love

Maturity isn't how much I know;
it's how much love I show.

~Jo Naughton
p. 133

Inconvenient?

"That you only love as much as you're willing to be inconvenienced."

Ann Voskamp says it so well.  If you are not willing to be inconvenienced, you are probably not loving.  It's a good litmus test.  Find out next time you feel inconvenienced just how much you love!

Lose the Weight - Let Go of the Pain

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:  That word is love."

~Sophocles

Strength & Courage Needed

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

~Lao Tzu