“My life is not my own
To you I belong
I give myself, I give myself to you.”
– My Life is Not My Own by William McDowell

As humans, we think that life is something that is owed to us. But it’s not. Life is not owed to us; because what did WE do to deserve life? Life is a gift, a blessing. Every breath we breathe is a blessing. Every night we go to sleep and wake up in the morning is a blessing. God breathed into us so that we may have life, and have life more abundantly. However, we think that this life is ours to live and do as we please. Yet, this is not the case at all. Sometimes we learn this over time, through revelation. Sometimes, some of us learn this the hard way. Regardless of how we learn these lessons, the simple truth of the matter is that our lives belong to the Lord. Therefore, there will be a day when we are called back home to Jesus. In preparation for this time, we have to live more abundantly while we are on this earth and we have to love while we can.

There is a popular saying that life is short. I know I say this a lot as a voice of reason or justification. But life truly is short. We can’t control every aspect of life and we certainly are not aware of when our time will come. So we must love while we still have time, we must love while we can. Personally, I feel I was called to love and share my love abundantly. And I don’t want to reach my final days of life and question whether I shared my love without question. I don’t want anyone to have these doubts or thoughts of not doing enough while they had the time to do so. So I challenge you all to love while you can.

I am a lover. I love to express love, whether I’m expressing love to family, friends, or my community. However, I have often questioned the way that I love. There have been times where I felt like I was doing too much and needed to tone my behavior done, to tone down my expression. I’ve also felt like there have been times when I didn’t express my love enough. Honestly, I have felt these ways because of society and the various social norms that have been set regarding love and vulnerability. I can try to please society or I can please God. I choose God. The God that I serve operates in facts, not fiction, and certainly not in popularity. He had to remind me of these things. He had to remind me that just because society sets this image or standard doesn’t mean that that is the standard he has set. He wants me to love and to share HIS love with others. And why shouldn’t I share his love? He’s been so good to me and I have no reason NOT to love on those around me when I can, as much as I can.

How do I know that God wants me to share his love? Because the Bible tells me so.
1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
And the list goes on and on. I encourage you all to check out more passages as you get time. But I want you all to realize that God loves us and he has given us love and expects us to love one another.

We all have different ways of expressing our love and that is perfectly fine! Some ways that we can express love include: through acts of kindness, through our behavior, and with the use of our words. The list for ways to express love goes on and on. Think about how you express your love, how you express God’s love. No matter how you express love, make sure that you are loving while you can because life is too short. Also, know that. I am not saying to run yourself dry but I do encourage you to live without regrets.

Today’s blog was inspired by and dedicated to my dear cousin, Daniel Pruiett. He passed away on Friday, July 17. He had no problem sharing his love and should be an inspiration to us all. His death inspired me to reflect on my expressions of love and to do better.

Share love more abundantly and share love while you can.

In memory of Daniel Pruiett