Intellectual debate won’t make us wiser. Love will.

Most of my life I was known as an intellectual. I still am an intellectual. But intellect never brought me balance.

No amount of knowledge ever made me peaceful. I enjoyed being acknowledged for my intellect, but there was always debate going on about everything. And there was no truth, only competing perspectives.

One of the most fundamental changes that I’ve experienced after my conversion was a progressive detachment from this obsessive compulsive disorder we all suffer from called debate.

Most of the time, wherever there is a need for debate, love is lacking. On the other hand, wherever love is abundant, there is no need or incentive for debate.

I never feel like debating – I’ve learned to either keep quiet or vocally refuse to join. Having a background in journalism and a history of winning over debates, this is a radical change – and a wonderful one that’s brought peace to my interactions with people.

Nonetheless I am genuinely interested in the well being of those around me, so here is one strategy that I find more meaningful and efficient to produce change both in and around me:

– If I disagree with something that is being said or done, instead of debating it, I focus on acting in a way such that reflects my vision as opposed to investing in showcasing my perspective to either convince (win) or accept (lose) against someone else’s perspective.

There’s nothing more powerful than actions. So why spend so much valuable energy on debate? The world and particularly the Internet is already full of it – and there is a profound lack of love in it.

When we’re lead by love, we learn how to transcend the dynamics of this world to shield ourselves from all its nonsensical behavior.

We heal when we forgive everyone

Forgiveness sets us free, but selective forgiveness has the opposite effect. We only heal when we forgive everyone.

No exceptions.

Serial killers, dictators, rapists? People who have cheated, abused and committed crimes against us? Yes, we are called to forgive them too. Our calling is to forgive the whole world.

If we forgive only the people who we think deserve to be forgiven, we are doing nothing more than judging them based on merit and singling them out.

When we take this path, we inevitably feed resentment. That’s how we end up chained to the people we can’t forgive. 

We have to forgive everyone. Instantly.

Forgiveness is an attitude towards life. Even people who have no relationship with God know that. What they don’t know is that it is only by God’s grace that we can forgive with a loving heart.

When we seek him first, we experience the power of forgiveness as a blessing. And it releases us from our chains straight into his loving arms, where we enjoy his peace and joy.

We know we are forgiven when we repent

Genuine repentance, sincere and fruitful, produces change of mind, attitude and posture. But we are only capable of repentance when God forgives us. 

God’s forgiveness is what produces repentance. 

The blessing of repentance comes from God. He crushes us, provoking our heart. He knows us, he wants us, and he forgave us through Jesus across time and space. 

Yet we are creatures of spacetime and, every time we sin, we need his eternal forgiveness to provoke our repentance. 

Without divine forgiveness, there is no repentance.

Repentance is always preceded by divine forgiveness. We have to be crushed by God’s sovereign forgiveness that turns us inside out to surrender. As we surrender, we are transformed. 

Our spirit recognizes a sovereignty that comes before any human conclusion. So even those who don’t genuinely believe in God experience repentance. Repentance is God’s power at play.

When we repent, we know that God has forgiven us.

Rebuilding our love bonds with a spirit of repentance

Every relationship that we have will experience cracks in its structure at some point. But we can mend those cracks, or even rebuild a broken bond, with a spirit of repentance.

Love teaches us to repent and live life with a renewed spirit that makes possible what wasn’t possible before. We are given a chance to do what is right and move on with a hopeful spirit.

While the world puts a lot of weight on “telling the truth”, repentance is about actions, not words.

We are called to rebuild our love bonds with repentance through a change in our attitude. It is our actions that express love.

This means that if a hurtful truth from which we wholeheartedly repent is bound to break our love bond, Jesus isn’t calling us to tell it and crush someone with its unbearable weight.

We’re not called to tell a truth that crushes. Destructive truths can only destroy. Instead, we are called to live the truth of our repentance and rebuild our love bonds with love.

Always be the good company that others are grateful for

Being good company is about loving our company – something that the coaches, books or articles of this world cannot teach.

Like me, you’ve probably experienced your share of company that is unhelpful in the course of your life. What we can do is forgive those who hurt us and be more selective about the people who we allow to come closer to us moving forward.

When we let go of what doesn’t do us good, we make space for what brings good to our lives.

We should never, ever be too busy when others that we know need us. And when we make ourselves available, there is yet another stepping stone: being good company.

This world might have forgotten what being good company is like, but we should not.

We laugh with those who laugh, and cry with those who cry.

We don’t ridicule others.

We don’t look down on or judge others we don’t like, but pray for them.

We encourage each other with hopeful, peaceful and loving words.

We don’t oppress one another with the expectations of this world, but listen to what we need and what is good for our spirit.

We remind each other that everything is possible for the One who made us when something seems impossible.

We rejoice in the fact that all things contribute to our good, and that the struggles of this world can’t crush us.

We happily offer practical help and not simply wait until there is an urgency or emergency to step up.

We make sure our “yes” is a “yes” and our “no” is a “no”, because we won’t be good company to someone when we say the opposite of what’s in our hearts.

Setting boundaries is important, so we know what and how much we can give. This way, we won’t raise false expectations in others that we know we can’t meet.

Good company makes us grateful because they are available, helpful and a joy to be around thanks to their noticeable appreciation for us.

Our love for one another should be felt in our words, but most importantly in our actions. These actions could be as simple as a heartfelt hug, or taking a real interest in how someone is doing instead of just asking and letting it be.

I’d like to encourage all of us to put in more love in our interactions with others. Let’s take the time to let them know what we appreciate about them whenever there is an opportunity and not just leave it on that note.

Let’s remain a constant presence in their lives in loving ways and show we are grateful for each other’s lives.

Love gives us eternal life in a world full of deadly fears

Have we finally given in to the world and its fear of death? So many have started using worldly language and imposing limits on our lives. Most look for answers in the media and start relying on what governments can or cannot do.

But what can governments do? What can I? What can you?

We know there is very little that any of us can do in a world that is dominated by darkness. We know only an almighty power can overcome this world and, in fact, it has already overcome it. 

This isn’t a time to figure out creative (and profitable) ways of connecting with the aid of technology. It is a time to face our difficulty to rely exclusively on the One who made us.

We experience his power when we seek him. And his power is love. Not what the world thinks love is. Divine love. The world only knows a shadow of it, yet love already shows an unmistakable power to change our lives for the better.

Love is the power that made and moves the universe.

What is expected from us is that we love one another. It is through this love that we have eternal life and that the poisonous death that consumes this world is defeated. 

When we love one another and rely on his power, he makes the impossible possible. Because nothing is impossible for the One who made everything and conquered death with love.

Listen to your thoughts and heal with a grateful spirit

We can heal when we allow love to pacify our hearts. Only then can we learn to listen to our thoughts, examine them with a loving and forgiving heart and heal with a grateful spirit.

If it glows, then it is Love

We all have tasted loneliness at some point in our lives. 

It isn’t simply about not having company, but about having quality company that does us good. And that is not easy to find.

But the good news is, we are far from being alone. And this loneliness that clouds our judgment and keeps us from seeing with the eyes of faith can be defeated.

So how do we defeat it? Well, the answer is: we don’t. It is the One who made us with unconditional love who defeats it. But he can only defeat our loneliness when we humbly accept his love. 

Our lives are transformed when we become conscious of this love and gain the confidence, through faith, that we are not alone.

When we follow his ways, there’s no reason to feel lonely, because he gives us every opportunity to be with others who reflect his love. 

Yet if we still feel lonely at times, we just have to call his name and he will be there through the people he brings into our lives.

What gives us peace in the eye of the storm

We live in peace when we believe in the One who forgave us for all that we have done and will still do, across spacetime.

Yet forgiveness doesn’t erase the consequences of our decisions in this world. And that’s why many of us struggle.

For instance, take someone who committed murder and repented, turning to a life in the spirit where God is now thoroughly transforming him.

This person is forgiven by God, as repentance is already a gift from God and we are only able to repent from our wrongdoings when God has already forgiven us. However the criminal will still suffer the consequences of breaking the laws of this world.

Similarly, when we hurt each other and repent, we can live a forgiven and peaceful life in the Lord. But the ones that we hurt may or may not be back into our lives or even forgive us.

Expecting justice, forgiveness and love from this world is what tends to frustrate us. It is only the life God gives us in the spirit that is filled with divine justice, forgiveness and love.

When we live under God’s grace, we are able to withstand the often implacable judgment of this fallen world. Shielded by his unfailing, unconditional and eternal love.

Living in spiritual hope brings divine joy to our days regardless of circumstances. For there is much joy in knowing that we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus, who is our advocate.

And there is even more joy in knowing that he is preparing us for a dimension of existence ruled by God’s love.

How to be aware without judging

Thanks to sharing God’s divinity, we are able to love everyone. This love is His power operating in us. At the same time, He gives us discernment, so that we can make better decisions in life in accordance with his teachings through Jesus.

It is important to be aware that someone’s behavior doesn’t reflect the teachings of Jesus, who is God incarnated and thus teaches us how to become the best human beings we can be.

But if I turn to attack this person, using Jesus as a weapon, and feeding my attack from a place of condemnation and sense of superiority, I have lost the battle against the evil in me.

Acting this way is no better than any other person in this world who doesn’t know Jesus. In fact, when I claim to know Jesus, my attack is far worse than if it would have come out of ignorance.

When we are of the same mind as Jesus, we are aware of what is not good without judging others. Even He, being God, didn’t come here to judge us, so why should we judge one another?

He teaches us to pray for others who we believe to be misguided.

We might not like their behavior, and God is not asking us to keep or seek company that doesn’t do us good. But we can love them and pray for them to be transformed.