Choosing Love

“Is this the best thing for me and for others?” The more we care about others, the more this question seems to become relevant and—if we allow it—troubling.

One of the more difficult things about journeying with Christ, in my opinion, is discerning what actions are going to be good (beneficial). Yet, interestingly, when we examine the Lord’s greatest commandment to His people—His call for us to “love our neighbors”— we see that “seek what is best or good for our neighbors” doesn’t appear. I believe this is for a very good reason.

It would be a mistake for us to confuse “love” with “good.” This is because the best interest of others (and us individually) is often too complex for us to know in immediate fullness.

The death & resurrection of Christ comes to mind as an exemplary story: Christ’s followers & disciples mourned His death because they feared that it represented the loss of their Messiah, King, & Savior—the good things God promised His people. Despite Christ’s admonitions, they still doubted in the moment that His death could be anything other than loss. But as we know, His death inevitably led to something else: a full & complete act of beauty, grace & goodness through His resurrection.

Like this story, the “good” of life’s circumstances are difficult to understand. I even venture to say that it’s nearly impossible to understand momentary instances in entirety. For this reason, Christ instructs us to let love be our action & goal. When we act boldly in accordance to the love of God, we are already being directed towards His “good” for others & us; hence, we don’t need to fear consequences or worry about outcomes. It’s more a matter of trust & faithfulness: do we trust that God is good & faithful to orchestrate our best? Are we willing to surrender control and daily choose love?