Feel His love

In the end, we know the proper place for everything in our life when we put first things first.

Lately I’ve been waxing philosophical about love.  Last week we discussed the concept in a broad sense.  But being single, I can’t help but allow my musings to wander into the world of romance.

And I’m not alone.  Many LDS singles think about it too.  Some think about it so much that they become obsessed with having it and deeply depressed that they don’t.  Of course, that just perpetuates the problem.  No one finds depression attractive.

Clearly we need to put the romantic aspect of love in its proper place.  But what is that place?  In thinking about how to answer that question, the words of the Apostle Paul fill my mind.

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 35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
 36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
 37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
 38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
 39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:35–39)

Nothing can separate us from God’s love because God’s love is that great.  In my own life I can look back and see instances where I was separated from romantic love.  But I have never been separated from God’s love.  God’s love is clearly much, much greater.

In the end, we know the proper place for everything in our life when we put first things first.  And so we can find the proper place for romantic love when we put God’s love first in our lives.

Put things in perspective

So many LDS singles yearn for that special someone to come into their life and whisk them away to a world of never ending happiness.  It makes for a great story, so good, in fact, that it forms the basic narrative of every hailed love story since at least medieval times.

Given our inundation with this unrealistic tale of boy meets girl, it’s easy to focus on finding “the one” in the belief that success in that search will make life worthwhile.  Indeed, life is more rewarding when shared with that special someone.  The problem comes in thinking that life is worthwhile only if it includes that special someone.  And many singles fall into that trap.

This is where Paul’s counsel becomes invaluable.  It helps us to put things in perspective.  Recognizing that God’s love is greater than any romantic love leads naturally to recognizing that a relationship with God is greater than any romantic relationship.

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Put God first

This doesn’t have to be an either-or proposition.  We don’t have to choose between a relationship with God and a relationship with a romantic partner.  Why not have both?

Each of those relationships can improve the other, making the whole of life even better.  When our romantic relationship improves our relationship with God, our relationship with God returns to improve our romantic relationship.  This is the ideal that can lead to our best life.

And we get there by putting God first.  Improving that relationship will increase our ability to receive revelation.  And it is revelation that can tell us what changes we need to make in ourselves and what vocation we should pursue and what employment we should accept and where we should live and all the other details that combine to place us in the right state at the right place in the right time to meet the right type of person.

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Feel the love

Of course, all of this doesn’t happen at once.  But God will not abandon us when we turn to Him.  And because nothing can separate us from His love, we can feel that love every day as we journey towards our desired blessings.

You can feel God’s love as He sends His Spirit to console and comfort you.  You can feel God’s love as He provides opportunities for you to pursue your desired blessings.  You can feel God’s love as He opens your eyes to see those opportunities and encourages you to take them.  You can feel God’s love as you make the changes that His revelation instructs you to make, changes that will make you more attractive to the right type of person for you.

When you put first things first, everything falls into its proper place.  You really can have the romantic relationship you desire.  When you put building your relationship with God first, He will help you build the romantic relationship you yearn to have and that He yearns to bring into your life.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

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You can listen to the monologue from today's episode of Joy In The Journey Radio here.  Please also feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment below.  Want to hear more?  Listen to the whole show by going to the show page for this episode.