Lifestyle of Love

Give yourself grace and start the day soaking in love.

Fernando Ortega. "Give Me Jesus."  November 7, 2014.

The news cycle used to be contained largely to the evening and late news, but no longer. Now we are bombarded by images, sound bites, and provocative headlines. If the first thing you do is grab your cell phone when you get out of bed, you may want to rethink that habit.

How might a person of faith interact in a healthier way with “the news”?  Certainly, become informed about what is going on in the world; however; don’t overindulge. Ingest a reasonable portion.

Choose news sources carefully. Consider the values and mission of the source.  How does its values align with God’s love for the powerless, the poor, the prisoner, the sick, or the stranger?  (See Matthew 25:31-46)  Listen to multiple perspectives on an issue to deepen your understanding. Verify facts. Are they mentioned in several sources? Has the original context been preserved?

It takes courage to learn what is really happening.  We discover things that are hard to hold in our hearts.  Becoming informed is only a first step. 

Christians are called to love, to serve, to do.

• Pray for the world and its leaders.
• See the good. Give thanks. Ex. Affirm essential workers or join the 7 pm clap ovation of healthcare workers where you live.
• Stand firm. Show up. Speak up. Fight to save lives. Push back against unhelpful regulations as one governor did.
• Partner with problem solvers in your community. Join a volunteer effort: food bank, ministry to the homeless, literacy effort, disaster relief...

In a word, embrace a lifestyle of love, lived out in many ways.

Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” Matthew 22: 37-40