Falling in love is an emotional experience.
Loving someone is a choice.
Yes, I believe love is a conscious decision. Whether it’s choosing to love the person we fell for or extending love to our opps—our enemy, the one who wronged us yesterday or years ago—it’s never an easy choice. But it is an important one.
When we’re hurt, our first instinct is often emotional—revenge, anger, lashing out. Sometimes, even worse, the impulse to cause physical harm. That’s why it’s crucial not to act on our first reactions. Instead, we must stop, breathe, and think. Then, we can make the deliberate choice to respond with love.
Even in less dramatic situations, love remains a decision. It’s not just about forgiving those who have wronged us; it’s also about choosing to love the people we encounter daily—strangers, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances. The command to “love thy neighbor” isn’t just about proximity; it’s about intention. Love isn’t reserved only for family and close friends—it’s a choice we extend to everyone.
When we choose to love, we commit to treating others with kindness, hoping for the best for them, and refusing to stand in the way of their success. In other words, we’re not engaging in jealousy, bitterness, or resentment—we’re doing the opposite.
And for those we naturally feel love toward—our spouses, children, siblings, family, and friends—love is still a choice. Even those closest to us can hurt us, whether intentionally or not. When that happens, we have two options: hold onto pain, anger, and grudges, or release those feelings and replace them with love.
Love is patient. Love is kind. And love is hard. It’s not always easy, but every time we choose love, we add more of it to a world that can often seem filled with hate. People everywhere are searching for love—so why not be the one to offer it? Not just in February, the so-called month of love, but every day, all year long.