Thursday, May 22, 2025
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. This was Jesus’ summary.
Similarly, mine is – Love First. Today we have “me first” or “guilt first” or “fear first” or “others first.” That’s bad news. Before you do it, make sure you’re doing it from a place of love. That’s it. Pay attention to yourself, that’s what this means. Don’t betray yourself, and you’ll never miss it.
Say your friend asks you to borrow money, and you don’t feel enthusiastic or fond of lending, and you do it anyway. That’s guilt first. If you’re pressured into something, that’s fear first. If you give to a charity because you feel bad about “the needy,” that’s pity first. If you do things to get people back, that’s revenge first. To push ahead and get the most, that’s me first or greed first.
When you say “no,” that can be love first too. It means you won’t be at your best if you participate, so say no. If you’re hesitant to quit, or to do something you feel you really want to do, that’s fear first. If you take a job only because it pays well, that’s money first. If you eat junk all day, that’s guilty pleasure first. Will Smith says to himself, “I love you too much to let you eat that pizza.”
You can learn to apply this “Love First” to anything. My friend Wes came over recently and wanted me to play hymns on the organ for him at my home. He loved that idea. And I loved doing it. Win-win. I probably loved it more than he did. It’s easy, but it takes a while to get the hang of it. Anything second to love, and life becomes unbearable.