loving well

February is heart health awareness month and most people are focused on the physical aspect of this, which is much needed. However, as integrated beings, there is significantly more going on than just what is happening in our physical bodies; in fact, 90% of illness begins with an emotional (which I would contest is also a spiritual) imbalance.

 

So if you’re pursuing “the heart of the matter” when it comes to your physical wellness, you may need to very literally be looking at your emotional health; the true heart in the matter.

 

Last week I shared with you about Bernard of Clairvaux’s Four Degrees of Love and Peter Scazzero’s corresponding Emotionally Healthy Spirituality assessment. Several of you accepted the weekend wellness goal of assessing how you were functioning, as an emotional infant, child, adolescent, or adult as you pursue loving others well, and even shared your results with me. Surprise, surprise, none of us has arrived at a full-fledged emotional adult. If you have, but didn’t share your results with me, please don’t. I’m just not sure I’m mature enough to take it…

 

My point here is actually just to say, we are all a work in progress. We know it. Our friends and family know it. And God most certainly knows it. I’m so glad God can actually see my heart and knows my true intentions. Sometimes they are willfully selfish and I need His forgiveness. Sometimes they are unintentionally selfish. Unintentional sin still causes harm and I am still in need of forgiveness from God, and also from those I’ve hurt. Forgiveness, the giving and the receiving, is fundamental to loving well; both ourselves and others. Can I challenge you this weekend to pause and grab a moment to ask the Lord whom may be in need of your forgiveness? Many of you know that one of my favorite tools to use for helping myself to settle in and hear from the Lord is aromatherapy.

 

I believe in a sovereign and omnipotent God to the exclusion of any coincidence. It is not a coincidence that fragrances awaken spiritual connections. It is by God’s design. By His created order, so I choose to start each day, each Daily Pause with about 2 minutes of aromatherapy. If you’d like the video teaching on this, click here: https://getoiling.com/RachaelPage/videos/ODA1OA==/MzYy

Second, as we pursue learning to Love Well this month, have you heard of Gary Chapmond’s Five Love Languages? Have you ever taken the quiz to determine yours? The quiz helps you to discover your primary love language, what it means, and how you can use it to better connect with your loved ones. Really want to up your Love practices? Ask those you are closest to to take the quiz and share their results with you. Then contemplate one thing you could do daily or weekly to intentionally speak of your love to them in their native love language, the language they can best receive your love. Look, if you’re going to take the time for a love gesture, make sure you get it not just right, but REALLY right!

Take the quiz here:

Maybe you’re estranged from a loved one, say a child or friend. You can picture them and their “typical” responses and take the quiz on their behalf. Ask the Lord to show you how to best begin praying for them, and maybe even reaching out to them weekly or monthly in the way that He wired their heart to most notice and appreciate being loved.

 

Weekly Wellness Challenges (pick 1 or both):

May you be richly blessed as you pursue loving well in deeper and more meaningful ways.

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

John 13:34-35