There is a season that I remember where I would have assumed I understood what love is. Did not realize that I wasn’t choosing love on purpose when I considered my emotions. Well, at least by my own definition.

I show up. Serve well. Keep my mouth shut and go beyond everything that is asked of me. But underneath I am frustrated, very frustrated. I smile through conversations and work orders once again. Feeling unseen and unheard as things change to fit the upcoming season. I can feel the pressure and expectation to lead my team under me in this same manner, or I am treated as though I failed.

In this season, I have to purposely choose to walk in love on purpose before my emotions.

Everything in me wants to stop. Pull back. Protect my heart from being misused and not seen. This is the moment God wrecked my heart.

This morning I chose to meditate on 1 Corinthians 13. I am not looking for conviction or comfort but rather clarity. According to Scripture, love is an action, a way of life. Love is not found in my emotions.

I see a bigger picture. Love is unconditional and does not exist based on if we agree or not. Love does not dictate that I feel a certain way, but it does dictate that I choose to behave a certain way.

This love is a daily choice to choose purpose over emotions.

Heed what God is saying and not what my flesh is screaming. It is a daily surrender. A conscience decision to lay down my pride, my preferences, my wants and my comfort. This kind of love doesn’t happen on accident. It starts to bloom inside our life when we choose, again and again, to die to self. We chose to trust that God’s way produces more life than I ever could.

Love is a lifestyle not a momentary feeling. At its core, this kind of love requires us to die daily and lean into God. This love will not come from will power but rather will bloom from our intimacy with the Father. Some days, dying to self feels like I am losing.

If love is a choice, a lifestyle and a reflection of the Father, what would change if you chose it on purpose today?

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