Choosing Love

Happy New Year to you and your family. A new year brings in so many hopes, ideas, dreams, and newness, but how much of that gets wiped out after the first couple of weeks within the year? We hear of new year’s resolutions which are mankind’s cruel way of proving to themselves that the very thing that they did not get done last year will not happen again this year. Wow, what an openly pessimistic post this is going to be or already has been! The reason new year’s resolutions only work for about three percent of the population is because of the stress and cortisol that we place on the body without addressing the powerful belief that we hold within the subconscious. One of the most powerful beliefs that we hold is the belief about love. We all have heard the songs, read the books, seen the movies, and written or received the cards that profess the most written topic known to mankind, LOVE!

You were created by love, for love, from love and so everything that we attune to is based on the premise of love. According to research, our cellular makeup moves closer to love and moves further away from things that we fear. How does that work when we can fear the very thing that we were created in? I get to meet people all the time and they tell me that they love someone or something but cannot understand why there is such friction within their relationship. I ask them if they have asked their bodies why that would be the case. I typically get an interested look from them because they come to me in hopes that I will give them that answer.

The invisible gives shape to the physical. The invisible is our mind, will, emotions, imagination, expectations, and so on. The physical is our body. Our bodies feel and the moment that they feel they need an interpretation to what the feeling is and that is where the invisible comes into play, which gives it shape. This is where the mind comes into play, the mind is to give interpretation to the feeling that the body feels. If the mind interprets for the body then it puts the body at rest by giving interpretation, this is called validation. If we validate what our bodies feel with our mind then we integrate. When the body and the mind work in harmony then we can invite the presence of God into that feeling so that all three are integrated into one, to create oneness in us. Oneness is what love is all about. When we can walk in love towards ourself, then we have the opportunity to love others. We cannot give what we do not have, even though we attempt to. Many of the people I see have relationships where they only seek validation taking place outside of themselves and when they do not receive it, anger is the natural byproduct.

When we do not teach our mind to recognize the state that our body is in, then we invalidate ourself and create friction internally. Scripture states that a house divided against itself will fall. This is the very process of the falling that takes place from invalidation. When the body feels, it needs interpretation. If the body does not get the interpretation from the mind then it can cause the body to go into a state of friction. The body in a state of friction will continue to look for resolution and interpretation from the mind. The body will say to the mind, “please validate me.” While your mind says “it is not a big deal.” or “I am okay.”. As this arm wrestling match continues, our bodies are the beneficiary and they become impacted. When integration does not happen through the process of the mind validating the body, then we attach a piece of who we are in that present moment. We continue to move forward in time without being aware of these attachments to the past.

So much about love is how we see ourselves and walk in how we were created. Genesis three, six, and nine connect with the destruction of mankind which impact the way that we see ourselves and relate in love. We see this story play out in the early chapter of Genesis, where two brothers were the subjects of the story. For those who are not familiar with the story, God called these two brothers to give an offering. One brother brought his first and the other brother brought what he had left over. God accepted one brother’s offering and rejected the other brother’s. The brother that had his offering rejected, got angry. God went and asked him a question so that he could validate the very thing that he felt so God could be invited into the equation for assimilation. The brother did not take God up on His offer and expressed himself in a way that was devastating for his entire family. God has validated us through the work of Jesus on the cross. We see Jesus addressing the emotional state of His friends before the logical nature when He would say, “fear not” which represents emotion, and “for I am with you” which is logic.

Love is thought of as a feeling but it is not only a feeling, it is also a choice. When we learn to address the feelings of the body through our minds and invite God into the picture, then we can experience change. The choice of moving forward through validating our feelings with our thoughts allows us to move closer to the change that we want in life, which is loving ourself by acknowledging all that we are in life.

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ This is the first law. “The second Law is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other Law is greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.

If we want a different year for ourselves this 2022, then what does it look like to truly love ourselves so that we can be at a place to love others. I hope that this year is the best year of your life. God is love and He loves you.

~Brady G. Daniel