When we think about love in a healthy relationship, how do we express it? True love isn’t just a feeling. It’s action. We serve, support, and forgive those we love. Even when we need to address a problem or set boundaries, we do so with empathy and care. Our choices demonstrate our love.
The same is true in our relationship with God. Loving God isn’t limited to words or rituals; it’s about living a life that reflects love, toward Him and toward others. This is what God desires: for us to love Him and others as He loves us. Unconditionally.
A Foundation of Choice
From the beginning, God built love on the foundation of choice. He created humanity with free will, not as slaves or robots compelled to obey. He wanted authentic, willing love.
In the story of Adam and Eve, they were given an abundant life with just one restriction: not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their obedience would have been a demonstration of love. Yet, they chose differently. They sought independence and control, wanting to be their own gods.
God respected their choice, but choices come with consequences. The result was a separation from God, leaving humanity with a longing, a “God-sized hole” in our hearts. No earthly pursuit, pleasure, or success can ever fully satisfy this longing.
Recognizing the Void
Do you feel it? That emptiness, no matter how much you accomplish or acquire? It’s a universal ache, a restlessness that nothing in this world can fill. Beneath every pursuit lies a deeper desire: to return to a loving relationship with God.
Even if we don’t consciously recognize it, this longing points us back to Him. Our journey is to rediscover that relationship, not as equals, but as created beings in awe of our Creator, who gave us the unearned, unmerited gift of life itself.
The Path Back to Love
What does God ask of us to restore this loving relationship? Simply this: to love Him through our choices.
*When Jesus appeared to Peter after His resurrection, He asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, I love you.” Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.”
It couldn’t be clearer. This is our path forward. We fill that God sized hole by feeding His sheep which is to love what He loves—His people, His creation. It means choosing love, even when it’s hard. *Love is patient. Love is kind. Love chooses forgiveness over retaliation, humility over pride, and compassion over judgment.
Our choices are not about what others deserve. They’re about what God deserves from us: love, expressed in action.
Filling the God-Sized Hole
Every loving choice brings us closer to that healthy relationship with God we are secretly craving. Each time we respond with grace instead of anger, choose forgiveness instead of resentment or show kindness instead of indifference, we begin to fill that God-sized hole in our hearts.
This is a daily journey, one choice at a time.
How Will You Love God Today?
What choices will you make today to demonstrate your love for God?
You can start small: Forgive someone who hurt you. Extend kindness to a stranger. Pray not just with words, but with an open heart and mind.
Loving God is a process, not a one-time declaration. It’s about striving, in every moment, to reflect His love in our lives. And when we do, we will find the peace and fulfillment that comes only from Him.
* John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.
*1 Corinthians 13:4–8
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs”
The Radical Catholic 
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