to love is a choice

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a retreat that was put on by Blessed Is She in Washington, D.C. It was such a beautiful weekend filled with praise, the sacraments and sisterhood and gave me some much-needed time in prayer to slow down and reflect. During adoration on the first night, there was praise and worship music to accompany our time spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament. And the sound of a couple hundred women singing and praising our Lord was really, truly heavenly. Not only was the sound absolutely beautiful, but also the image of an entire (large) chapel filled with women raising their voices to our Father was just breathtaking. As I was kneeling there, praying and listening to the beautiful sound, I began to think about how pleased God must be, looking down and seeing all of us just praising and adoring him. And as I began to pray and think about this more, I heard so clearly:

I’m not pleased because of the fact that all of you are here, worshipping and praising and adoring and loving me. I’m pleased because in your freedom to choose, you still have chosen to love me. You have made a choice to kneel before me, to seek me, to adore me. It is a free choice to do so and yet here all of you are, doing just that.

I was reminded in this moment that He isn’t caught up in the sheer legalism of it all, but rather that I, in my free will, choose to grow in holiness by following his statutes, to love him and spend time with Him because I want to, not because I feel like it’s an obligation. To love Him is a choice. It should be a want and a desire, not something that I add into my schedule because I feel obliged to do it. And the realization of all this made me realize that all too often I fall into this trap—and I fear that many of you do as well. So, sisters, don’t pray simply because you feel like it’s another item to cross off your to-do list (sometimes guilty). Don’t pray because you’ve managed to guilt yourself into it (again, guilty). Pray because you’re trying to come to know and love more fully the Savior who died for you. Pray because the Creator of the universe can’t wait to hear the nitty, gritty details of your messy but beautiful life. Pray as a way of showing Him that you are freely choosing to love Him and spend time with Him. Join me as I strive to spend time with Him simply because I want to.

Photo: BlessedIsShe Instagram Story of Wild Retreat in DC (Marya is top left getting prayed over)

Marya is a guest blogger who doesn't live in household but is very loved by our community! She is a senior majoring nursing and minoring global health. She serves as the 2018 Penn Newman Center President (previously secretary). One of her most notable achievements will be coordinating Emily Wilson's visit to speak in Philly in February 2019. Check out her past post here