“Today I will choose love.  Tomorrow I will choose love.  And the day after that, I will choose love.  If I mistakenly choose distraction, perfection, or negativity over love, I will not wallow in regret.  I will choose love until it becomes who I am.”  – Rachel Macy Stafford

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

“Let all that you do be done in love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:14 ESV

There are so many things in life we consciously choose, and in today’s world, the possibilities, alternatives, and selections are endless.  But isn’t it funny that when it comes to love, we seldom view it as an act of will or a consciously chosen option.

We tend to see it as a feeling or emotion – something we experience.  If the sensation is absent or the mood is lacking, then love doesn’t exist.  It’s as if love “happens” to us.  We “fall” into it and “fall” out of it – even describing it as if we accidently tumble or unwittingly plummet into it like a pit or a snare of some sort.

We often view it as something reciprocated – something given back in response to being loved in the first place.  The human ego is so full of itself that to love without being loved in return seems counterproductive and a waste of time.  If we love without being loved back, we subject ourselves to things the ego detests – vulnerability, rejection, and damage to our dignity and self-esteem.

Love isn’t a reaction, a sensation, or something that is happenstantial.  It isn’t accidental, it isn’t fallen into and it’s about as far away from egotism and vanity as East is from West.

At the very center of love, at its truest essence, is personal choice.  It is an act of will that is more powerful than any choice we will ever encounter.  If we chose it again, and again, and again, as Rachel Macy Stafford suggests, it defines who we are and the life we experience as a result.

How are you “choosing” to love today?  Can you begin to see it as a conscious choice you initiate within your life?

Tell someone who means the world to you how much love you feel for them in your heart.

Pay a compliment to a coworker – telling them something you admire about them.

Wave and smile at a stranger who passes by – acknowledging them as a fellow human being.

Reach out to someone who you know is lonely, depressed, or in need – listening to them and letting them know you’re thinking about them.

Look into the eyes of your children and tell them one specific thing that you love about who they are and the kind of person they are becoming.

Choose to overlook the offense.  Choose to forgive instead of harboring an injustice.  Choose to relinquish and let go versus embellishing and hanging on.  Choose love.

Do these things without consideration of a response, a reaction, or a reciprocating word in return.  Just choose love.

Do this every day – without fail.  Begin to feel the change that is happening inside of you. Begin to see how love is becoming who you are 🙂

“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  Love will last forever.” – 1 Corinthians 13: 7-8 NLT

“My command is this:  Love one another as I have loved you.” – John 15:12 NIV