In a world recently ravaged by the unexpected and life-altering pandemic, an intense and downright nasty political cycle, and brokenness upon brokenness, I find myself asking “Lord, where are you?” more often than I used to. This question rattles me to my core. As someone who’s greatest fear is abandonment, the sense that I (and we) are down here alone on this little blue planet full of so much tumult at the moment, is a heavy one. It is an uncomfortable, unsettling feeling that I couldn’t seem to shake for several months last year leading to a significant drought in my spiritual life.
But God’s glory is real and His peace is powerful and somewhere between worry and total off-the-deep-end despair, He rained His love on me and reminded me of a passage that deeply touched me a few years ago, along with a question. I’ll share the question with you first:
If God is love and we are made in His image, then are we not meant to be love, ourselves?
That question hit me like a ton of bricks as it bubbled up from the dry ground of my heart. It got me thinking:
Yes, this world is broken, but have I been contributing to that brokenness or have I been actively working to heal the hurt that our human experience unfortunately entails?
And if God is love and we are love, what does that look like in our daily living?
A few years ago at a Catholics Encounter Christ retreat, a passage that I’d heard dozens of times before, landed in my heart in a different way. As I read it, I found myself using each line as a litmus test of sorts, replacing “love” with my name and asking each sentence as a question. Here’s the original passage:
“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 record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
This short passage, often recited at weddings, is so much more than an image of romantic love. It’s a formula for true peace, a job description for each of us to abide by as we play our part in God’s plan for the world.
Using 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as guide, we can clearly see and evaluate our performance in living out our calling to be love in this world. Next time you find yourself preparing for confession, desiring to love your spouse better, or simply pondering how to better be the hands and feet of Christ, I invite you to utilize this passage as a tool:
- Am I patient?
- Am I kind?
- Do I envy or am I grateful?
- Do I boast or am I humble?
- Do I honor or dishonor others?
- Am I selfless or self-seeking?
- Do I allow anger to easily overtake me?
- Do I record the wrongs or do I wipe the slate clean whenever possible?
- Do I rejoice in the truth (even when it might feel better to delight in evil)?
- Do I protect those I love, and especially those who have no one else to protect them?
- Do I trust in God’s will for my life? Do I trust in His mercy and love?
- Do I remain hopeful, even when it’s hard?
- Do I persevere? More importantly, do I ask God to help me persevere?
If we all strive to “be love” in these very real and tangible ways, just think of the goodness that is in store for our world!
Note from the Author: This blog post was originally written for Women at the Well and was published on their blog in June of 2021. Women at the Well is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering Catholic women to grow in Faith + Community. Women at the Well has been such a blessing in my life. Check them out at Women at the Well to find out how you can bring Women at the Well to your parish!
