Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
The passage above is one of my absolute favorite verses from the Bible – 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7. I have this passage saved to the desktop of my laptop so that I can reference it throughout the day. Why? Because to me, life is about love. It’s about loving others fully and relentlessly. This applies equally to family relationships, friendships, and romantic relationships alike. However, I also think that it can be related to the way that we lead others.
To me, love is about caring deeply and fully for others, and allowing that care to manifest itself through kindness, graciousness, and generosity. As a leader, I try to do that in my work, just as much as I seek to do that in my personal relationships. If I’m leading a group, I want everyone to know that they are valued beyond the deliverables that we produce for one another. After all, when all is said and done, we’re all human and just want to feel close and connected to other people.
As is delineated in that passage above, there are many of components of love, and whether you are religious or not, I think that we can all agree that they are pretty beautiful, not only in the way that they are phrased, but also in the way that they truly make me (and hopefully you) want to be a more genuine, caring, and loving person.
In the spirit of the inspiration this passage has given me, I’m embarking on a journey. Over the next several months, I will blog about a different component of love each week, based on my experiences in my romantic, friendly, familial, and professional relationships. I also hope to make connections to leadership and critical thinking (of course!) throughout the process.
Overall, I hope the experience, 1) helps me better understand what it means to love others, and 2) helps me see how love can and should manifest itself in the variety of contexts that I pass through on a daily basis.
Hopefully this doesn’t sound like too mushy of an idea for you to get behind. As I said, I truly believe in the value of loving others in all circumstances. I will go ahead and point out that you can certainly love someone unconditionally, but not always like them or the way that they behave at a given moment. In the end, love is about respecting, caring, and being there for people, no matter the circumstances. As such, I think we can all love others, but still have reservations about the way that they choose to act at certain points.
So, the journey begins next week! I hope you’ll follow along for my reflections, and of course, comment with your own thoughts if you feel so inclined!
**The following blogs will be posted to my account on Canvas, so the majority will only be viewed by my senior classmates, but I will find a way to make sure anyone who wants to read them can!
I’m looking forward to following you as you embark on this journey, Matt! As others said in their comments, the idea of intentionally looking for where the “love” is in one’s life is a timely thing to be doing as we go through this season of strife and discord. Between elections, foreign and domestic violence, uncertainty about our own futures, and the regular pressures of each semester, it can be hard to see the good in the world. Through self-examination and intentional action, you should hopefully see more of the light and goodness in everyday life shine through.
Your comment on how you hope the blog wasn’t too “mushy” (it wasn’t) gave me an idea for my own blog next week, so thank you for that! I wish you the best on your journey over the coming months, and will be sure to follow along.
This is exactly the type of post I was looking to read (and trust me, I skimmed through quite a few posts before deciding to commit myself to reading your entire post). There are so many intense things occurring on this earth right now, and it is nice to come to the realization that at least someone is still taking the time to remember the most important things in life, like love. When you truly take a minute to just pause and breathe, you aren’t thinking about your finances or the political future of our nation or your academics– you’re (or at least I do) thinking about what matters the most in life– something that calms you, the people and things you love. I really like your intended concept for upcoming posts– you better post them some place I can read them!!
Matt,
I absolutely love that verse from the bible. It is also one of my favorites and living your life by it is a great idea. This world is truly about love. The more we show love to others the happier and more inclusive this world will be.I can say that they way you uphold yourself, from the time i have been with you, you truly do lead your life by loving everyone that you are around. I have never seen you treat anyone poorly let alone be mean to anyone. That is such a great trait to have and you definitely have it! I am really looking forward to reading your future blogs on canvas about your future journeys and learning more about love. I hope I can learn more about how I could live a life filled with love through you! You are a great example of this!!