Armed with the Sword: Beyond Ourselves

Challenge for the week:

Read: Beyond Ourselves – Chapter 2

Question: What is your definition of love? How do you define love? What makes you feel loved?

For yourself: Look at the list of things you wrote down about yourself in Week 1. God loves you just the way you are, and so should you love yourself. For every good thing on the list, thank God for it and for every bad thing, give it to Him, ask Him to help you change it if it be His will. Then, in front of the mirror, say to yourself: I love you with the good (name it) and the bad (name it) because God made me, and I am good.

For your relationship: Write down all the things that bothers you about your partner. Be specific. Then, pray and tell God all the things that bothers you. Ask Him to help you accept and love your partner with all the bad, ask Him to change your partner if it be His will, and to change you where you need to change. Sometimes the “bad” in our partner is not their problem, but yours – and you, and not they, are supposed to change.

For your community: God loves us all. When you see people during this week (the beggar on the street corner, the cashier, your colleagues, the taxi driver, the celebrity on the news, the criminal on the news), look at them and imagine what God, through His complete love, would see. Ask God to show you if He wants you to pray for someone.