Happy Loving

This blog post is all about love. I have been on a love journey for a long time. I constantly talk about my dreams of being in love, but before all of this started, I had to redefine what I knew love to be and renew my mind in this area. See, this world shows us so many worldly examples of what they think love should look like. There was a time that I thought that I had to be the ride or die girlfriend or that love only meant romantic relationships, but that is a lie that comes straight out of the devil's mouth. I have learned that sometimes you have to do some undoing. My thoughts on love were filled with what everyone else said, but I never really looked into what God said about love. Recently, I began to define love for myself and I wanted to share this process with you.

First, I talked about love in therapy a lot. I talked about love to my therapist for a long time actually. I talked about my first encounter with love which is from my immediate family. I talked about my relationships in high school and my relationships in college, but I never talked about the love that I showed myself. When I first started, I don’t even remember if I could honestly say that I loved myself. I mean I liked me, but I don’t know if I could say I loved me back then, but the Holy Spirit is amazing. He is the best teacher and He has been guiding me through the process. So, I began to study God’s word and study myself. Therapy makes me look at myself in the mirror often. I began to think about all the things that I knew love as and immediately the Holy Spirit whispered God is love. I have heard God is love 5,011 times, but I wasn’t really processing it. I began to meditate on this. God is love! God is love! God is love! I'm crying as a type because it just makes my soul feel good. Then I think about all the ways God loves me.

He loves me so much that I can dance with my mother after the physicians said that she would not walk again. He loves me so much that He gave me a bonus dad to fill gaps that I never knew that I needed filled. He loves me so much that he provides food, shelter, clothing, and everything else when I am inconsistent. He’s that faithful and loving and kind! That’s the kind of love we all want. Then I began to go deeper because I needed scriptures to meditate on when things start really getting rough so I found 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 which states, "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. Love never fails." I reflect on this scripture a lot. I use this scripture at work when I work with my students. I use this scripture when I encounter my family. I use this scripture when I am thinking about my future husband and little family. I want to be an example of love in other people lives. So, sometimes, I replace love with Whitney and set affirmations because sometimes it can be hard to love on people. Therefore, I say: Whitney is patient, Whitney is kind. She does not envy, she does not boast, and so on.

Redefining love takes times. You have to renew your mind by filling the space where worldly thinking once dwelled with Godly thinking. If love is an area that you feel like you need a lot of healing and growth in. Begin the process by reviewing what God says about love. Then, look at ways that you can practice loving yourself by God's standards. Read christian books on love. If you need professional help in this area, research a local therapist in your area, but don’t give up on love because God loves you! You are loved. You give love! You deserve the healthiest love! Your family loves you! Your kids love you! Jesus loves you because He died for you and nothing that you have done will ever stop Him from loving you!

Let’s do this love thing differently! Happy Loving!