There is little we are called to in life that is purely intuitive. There is little that truly matters to our lives, yet comes to us innately. To the contrary, almost everything that is important and almost everything that matters requires practice.
What matters most in life is love. We are called to love the Lord with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Our great divine calling is love—and this is a calling that requires practice.
Perhaps you have observed times in your life in which you have become complacent toward others or apathetic toward serving them. Maybe it has been a long time since you opened your home to extend hospitality or opened your schedule to lead discipleship. Maybe it has been a long time since you opened your hand to extend compassion or opened your wallet to extend relief. It is unlikely that such apathy simply started one day and that such complacency swept upon you in a moment. It is far more likely that over time you fell out of practice—out of the practice of love.
I once read of a musician, an especially talented pianist, who spoke of the importance of constant practice. He said that if he skipped his hours of piano practice for only three days, the public would begin to notice the difference. He said as well that if he skipped for only two days, his friends and family members would become aware of it and if he skipped for even one day, he himself would be conscious of it. He knew that only daily practice could keep his skill at the highest level.
And we would do well to learn from him and be cautioned by him. The caution is that others will soon bear the cost of our lack of practice. The musician will fail to honor his audience by his sloppy play and the Christian will fail to honor those he is called to serve. The failure to practice will impact the very ones he is most called to love. We are creatures of habit and do well to construct and maintain habits that will keep us focused on our most important callings. We do well to build habits of love.
We must learn to practice love in the little moments of life, in the small things, in ways that may go unseen and unnoticed.
What we must learn, then, is to practice love every day and in every circumstance, to never allow ourselves to ease off, to never neglect an opportunity to be a blessing to others. We must learn to practice love in the little moments of life, in the small things, in ways that may go unseen and unnoticed. For just as the pianist’s skill declines every time he shrugs off a practice, our skill declines every time we shrug off an opportunity to love. Hence, our question should always be, “How can I love right now? How can I serve in this moment? How can I be a blessing in this circumstance?”
God has work for us do in this world, and that work is love—to extend to others the love that God has so graciously extended to each of us. Love is not innate to us and not intuitive. It comes with difficulty, not ease. It comes with labor. It comes with practice. Love is a skill, a skill we must practice constantly and consistently, a skill we must practice for the good of others and the glory of God.
