7 Questions about Love to Ask Yourself This Lent
All year long, we live our lives in the faith, hope, and love of Jesus Christ. Yet there’s something about Easter that calls us to reflect on ourselves, our relationships, and our lives in a unique way, with special traditions and intentions. It’s a natural time to think about our existence, our realities, our struggles—our hopes, our desires, our yearnings. Earnestly, we reorient ourselves to discipline and inspire ourselves to remember the poignancy of our dependence upon God, to let God nurture love within ourselves so that we may overflow.
Most of us know John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. . .” God sent Jesus Christ to us, to love us, to show us what love looks like, to heal humanity’s relationship with love. God died so that we may know love—regardless of doctrine, regardless of history, regardless of culture, regardless of assumptions. Love is our inheritance. Therefore, what better time to reflect on love than during Lent, the days leading up to Easter?
The time of Lent has hosted myriad traditions ever since its beginning. Some of them we all know, like fasting from food during the 40 days of Lent like Jesus did in the wilderness. Some of them are more uncommon today, or at least uncommon in the United States, like eating pretzels that symbolize “arms folded in prayer” or beating a piñata that symbolizes the Seven Deadly Sins. (1) Regardless of the tradition, the reason we engage in these traditions is to challenge ourselves to prepare our hearts for Easter, to center ourselves in the miracle and sacrifice of God’s incarnation here with us.
Today is the beginning of the Lenten period. Today, you may start your fast, whether you’re fasting from all food, specific foods and drinks, or your consumption of something like social media or shopping. Perhaps today you’re starting a new intention for Lent, like journaling every day, spending more time in nature, learning a new sport, identifying the joys in your life to remember God’s goodness, or contemplating the laments in your life to move towards healing.
As we begin this time of Lent together—with whatever traditions are special to you, your family, or your church, with whatever intentions you’re integrating into your life—here are some questions to reflect on, to encourage your journey with God, to enrich your relationship with Love, during this time:
How would you define “love”? (2)
What are the ways you like to show love to yourself? Do you prioritize showing love to yourself? Why or why not?
How do you notice you tend to talk to yourself? Do you talk to yourself with kindness, gentleness, compassion? Do you talk to yourself with criticism, impatience, disrespect? How do you feel like your self-talk impacts you and others around you?
Do you know your love languages? (3) What are the ways you feel most loved by others? How can you communicate these to others so that they can better love you in the ways you need to feel loved? In the same vein, how do you like to show love to others? What are ways you can show love to others in the ways they need to feel loved?
What does it mean to you to spread the love of Jesus Christ? What does it look like to spread love like Jesus did?
Who is one person—perhaps a sibling, significant other, child, colleague, etc—you’d like to be more intentional about showing love to? How do you think you can meaningfully do that?
What is one community of vulnerable people—those living in poverty, those who are orphaned, those suffering from chronic illness, those escaping abuse, etc—who you’d like to be more intentional about showing love to? And as in the previous question, how do you think you can meaningfully do that?
Bonus Question: How do you notice God showing love to you right now in your life?
We hope these questions help you contemplate love in your life as we journey through this Lenten season together—the love of God, the love you receive from others, the love you show yourself, and the love you share with others. And may your traditions and intentions deepen your mindfulness and self-exploration as you prepare yourself to celebrate Easter.
NOTES
If you’d like some guidance on a biblical definition of love, see 1 Corinthians 13 (This chapter is also where our core values come from!)
Take a quiz to learn your love language, and then have your significant other, friends, and children take it! https://5lovelanguages.com/
