How to Live in Love

Hello beautiful readers.

To start the new year, I want to talk about love, a topic I feel passionately about, and the foundation of the Princess Nanabuns blog. It's so important that we live our lives walking in love. The Bible says if we do not have love, then we have nothing. No amount of riches, wisdom, or talent can compare to the power of love. I believe that love is an action, not a feeling. We can decide to love purposefully.

To begin, I want to give you my definition, or the Bible's definition, of love, taken from Corinthians 13: 4-8:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."

In this blog post, I want to highlight the key points of this verse. What does it mean to be loving, and how can we choose to walk in love?

1) Love is Patient

The definition of patient is: able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. Demonstrating love through patience means giving others grace. No one is perfect, and we must acknowledge this if we truly mean to love someone.

Patience resolves conflict, whereas anger worsens it. Having patience means having hope. Wouldn't we want the people we love to have hope in us? In the same way, we must have hope for others.

2) Love is Kindness

Kindness breathes life into all of us. It opens many doors and earns us opportunities, favor, and joy. You will never regret being kind, but you will always regret being cruel. No one apologizes for being too kind, but they do apologize for hurting someone. Therefore, when loving our neighbors, we must never grow weary of doing good. Instead, choose to sow many seeds of kindness and watch those seeds transform into something beautiful and prosperous.

3) Love is Goodwill

Rejoice for those that are rejoicing and weep with those who weep. We are joyous at weddings and mourn at funerals. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. When we act for others' best interests, we lift them up. Do not be jealous because someone has something that you don't. Envy and jealousy consume a person from the inside while being content with what we have keeps our hearts at peace. If we purposely wish someone good, it means we genuinely love them.

4) Love is Humility

This point goes hand in hand with goodwill. Humility eliminates pride and arrogance. Pride blinds us from seeing suffering. If we live humble lives, we will see clearly and can better help those around us. We all have hardships, and when we remember where we came from, our hearts soften, and we have compassion. And compassion is one of the driving factors of love.

5) Love is Selflessness

Love is never selfish. It is sacrifice. The best example I can think of is a parent's love for their child. Parents sacrifice much for their children. They give up their social lives and put a pause on their careers. Their sleep suffers, and sometimes even their well-being. They do undesirable tasks such as working extra hours, eating odd or cold leftovers, and cleaning piles of endless mess.

Every loving parent wishes to give their children a better life than the one they led. Like doting parents, we must learn to lead selfless lives, putting others before ourselves. Of course, that doesn't discount self-care. We must treat ourselves every so often, but that is another topic saved for another day.

6) Love is Joy

To love is to have joy. Be joyous for your sake and others. When we are bitter, full of contempt, and angst, we spread that energy to those around us. In the same way, when we are cheerful, we radiate that delight outwardly. Joy starts from within, so if something is troubling you and preventing you from happiness, please seek support, be it therapy, journaling, or confiding in the Lord or friends. I believe we can choose to be happy, but I also know that sometimes we need a little extra help, and that's okay. I actually have a post on how to live joyfully. You can read it by clicking here.

7) Love is Forgiving

Love does not keep any record of wrongs. Perfect, unconditional love forgives and remembers no more. Of course, we must use our wisdom and learn from our past mistakes. It is also fundamental to establish boundaries, but it benefits no one to hold grudges. Bitterness produces a harsh heart and festers until it becomes detrimental to our mental health. The Bible advises not to hate our brothers and sisters but to reason frankly with them. You will be surprised where a simple dinner and honest conversation could lead.

I know how hard that can be if you struggle with forgiveness, but I can promise you that forgiveness frees hearts. It is powerful and extraordinarily healing to both parties.

Now that you have a better understanding of what it means to love, I hope that you'll go out there and choose to walk a life in love. Remember that love is an action, not a feeling. Feelings change and waver like the tides of the ocean. Be determined to love others and spread your light.

Imagine a world where everyone chooses to love one another. There would be no war, no poverty, and no strife. Children from all around the world will play together, and every belly filled. Neighbors will help one another, and brothers and sisters will come together to comfort each other. That would be a world worth seeing.

With Love,

Princess Nanabuns