Thinking about the choices that I have in my life, the decisions that I need to make, at work or at home, how I choose to spend my money or my time, choices of how will I respond to things that upset me and make me angry, or whether something is right or is wrong, it is helpful to keep in mind what is most important.
When all is said and done, and I look back on my life, what will I be proud of, and what choices will I regret? What choices will have contributed to making things better, and what choices will add to the problem.
When I take a few moments to see everyday choices through the spectacles of the long view, and I ask myself in any decision, “what will govern my considerations?” it becomes clear to me that what is most important is to act with love.
Love means to care for the good of another. One writer that I encountered recently says that you may think you love chocolate cake, but what you want is to eat it! If you loved it, you would care for it and not desire to consume it! What would it be like if the result of every decision ended in another person being better off?
Love is the best principle to govern my life, because in any situation if I ask myself “What is the loving thing to do in this instance?” I will be led to a choice that is good. When I see other people through the lens of love, my instinct will be do what is best for them, because my concern is for their good!
Having love guide my choices is not only best for others, but it is the best for me, because I will be happy to reflect back and remember the joy that comes with acts of love. I will be able to look back to any decision and be satisfied that it was made well because it was made for the good!
So for me, I’m choosing Love to be the rudder that guides the ship of my life, to keep me pointed in the right way, to be the mark of my faith in a loving God, who calls me to act for the good of others, just as He has acted for my good in his treatment of me. “There are three things that remain in life, faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love.”
Living this way is what I choose, but that is easier said than done….
