Each January I ask the Lord for a new spiritual focus for the year. I pray the theme will permeate my life during that year. Here are prior themes… A Slave of Christ (2013), Better to Give Than to Get (2014), Keep in Step with the Spirit (2015), Listen and Love (2016), Join the Dance Procession (2017), Make Disciples (2018), Looking Up (2019), Blessed to Bless (2020), Practicing the Presence (2021), Talking with Jesus Like He’s Here Because—He Is (2022), Listening to Jesus Like He's Here Because—He Is (2023), Redefining Success By Becoming Like... (2024) and Abide and be abided in—to bear the fruit of love (2025).
My Theme for 2026
My theme for 2026 is “led by love.” My goal for 2026 is to engage in more activities that are unmistakably motivated by love. I also want to infuse the routine tasks of life with an attitude of love.
Will You Join Me?
I’m endeavoring to cultivate this practice throughout 2026. Will you join me and try it for seven days? Throughout the day, ask yourself, “Is what I’m about to do led by love? Is it led by Jesus?” Watch the small transformations that occur. If you do try it for seven days, would you encourage me by letting me know so I can pray for you? If so, email me at clyde@visualstory.org.
"Led by Love" Backstory
While on my spiritual retreat on January 9, I was praying early in the darkness for the people who were joining me in a weeklong fast. I scrolled, one by one, through the contacts in my “2026 Fasting Cohort” list in my phone. The thought occurred to me, “I should ask them for their photos so I can add them to my phone contacts and see their faces as I pray for them.” Then a counter-thought followed: “But don’t leave this flow state of prayer.” Then an even stronger thought came to mind—one I attribute to the Spirit of God: “Is what you’re about to do led by love?” It was one of those insights that is clearly heaven-sent. In response, I sent a quick email to everyone in the group asking for their photos and then went back to praying for them.
Since I was staying in an Airbnb in Costa Mesa, I felt drawn to watch the sunrise from the beach, so I drove to the 21st Street Pier in Newport Beach. While driving through the still-quiet streets, a second strong Spirit-thought struck me: “Love is best expressed with others.” I parked and admired the nine-foot steel statue of a lifeguard peering intently toward the surf. The statue is a tribute to Ben Carlson, the only Newport Beach lifeguard to die in the line of duty—while rescuing a swimmer in extreme surf.
I walked to the end of the pier through crisp, biting wind. As I watched the sunrise over the San Joaquin Hills, I continued to reflect on these insights with deep gratitude. In the days that followed, I began to ask myself throughout the day, “Is what I’m about to do led by love?” I also began to sense Jesus asking, “Is it led by me?”
The Differing Motivations
This turned out to be quite transformational. I would pause for just a moment and evaluate my actions through the lens of love. After a few days, I began to see different motivations behind my activities.
Some are life necessities: paying bills, grocery shopping, driving to an appointment, etc.
Some are self-preservation: eating, sleeping, shaving, brushing my teeth, etc.
Some are vocational: hosting meetings, managing projects, responding to emails, etc.
Some are clearly led by love: studying Scripture, praying for others, dancing in front of a mirror with my 22-month-old granddaughter, writing a Post-it note of affirmation to my wife, etc.
The Call to Love in the Routine
Rather than viewing the activities above as altogether different in kind, Jesus is inviting me to infuse love into more of the mundane activities of my day. Here are some of my small successes:
- Paying attention to how I’m driving to an appointment. I now actually ask, “Why am I making this lane change? Why did I just keep rolling forward when the driver turning left in front of me was infringing on my lane?”
- Sending an “I’m praying for you right now” text while shaving (and actually praying).
- Taking time to look into the eyes of the grocery checkout clerk—smiling and saying, “Thank you, Sean.”
The Filter of the Three Loves
To put this into practice, it is helpful to understand the different objects of our love. Matthew 22:37–40 teaches us about the three loves: love of God, love of neighbor and love of self.
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Love of God is the greatest of the loves because it orients the other two properly. When we love God well, we not only have the source of love for our neighbor and ourselves, but we also have the framework that keeps those loves rightly ordered. If I am not accountable to God, my other loves will be easily distorted. Loving God is the greatest possible love.
Love of neighbor is the next most important because, by nature, we are self-centered. This love causes us to think beyond our own needs and consider the needs of others at least as important as our own. This is one of the secrets of the Kingdom: when you love others, not only does it contribute to the common good, but you also find that it comes back to bless you and strengthen your capacity for more love.
Love of self is the third because it is assumed. This is our factory default mode. Most of us do not have our first waking thoughts centered on God or our neighbor; they are usually about ourselves. That being said, it is very important to take care of ourselves so we are capable of the first two loves. If we do not put on our own oxygen mask first, we will not be able to help the person in the seat next to us who may be having difficulty.
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Bonus Feature
If you’re interested in a Christian philosophical treatise on how we are to love, check out Works of Love: A Philosophy of Existence―How Love Saves Us from Isolation by Søren Kierkegaard. I am slowly wading into chapter 2, but I already appreciate its depth.
Double Bonus Feature
My 360° view from the end of the pier on January 9.
To filter every action through this question is tantamount to living a radical life. Saying yes to your invitation requires confronting a scary question: “how much do I really want to be transformed?” because the Honest examination turns up for me the idea that “I’m doing pretty well already, can’t I please keep this little corner for myself? Can’t I get a pass just a couple of times a month? Or a couple of times aweek …?”
The answer of course is no. Not if I truly want to be like Christ in every area. Sigh. I am reminded of this song, “change my heart O God, make it ever true, may I be like you.” (I appreciate how you divide life’s activities into groups.)
Edith, thanks for this helpful insight. Yes, so much of this is about willingness. Sometimes we will hear in church that we need more of God, but the bottom line is God needs more of us… all of me and all of you.
I’m in.
Thanks Brian!