The most fundamental choice we make each and every moment of each and every day of our lives is the choice between love and fear. In all situations and circumstances, we are either choosing to respond from love, or react in fear. We do this in a multitude of forms so diverse that we usually fail to recognize the simple choice between love and fear that forms the foundation of our choosing. Yet, we are making this choice tens of thousands of times a day.
The reality is we choose both love and fear, perhaps one more dominantly than the other. Everyone does this, and you are not alone. Take solace in the truth that no one chooses love perfectly. We do choose love. But, we also choose fear, and we do it every day. Being aware that we do it empowers us. Consciously choosing love over fear transforms our lives and enables us to be available to act from love whenever we encounter someone who has a request for love.
The Differences Between Love and Fear
The choice between love and fear is always in play, every single day. The most important thing we can do to create balance, harmony and peace in our lives, and in the world for that matter, is to maintain an acute awareness of the profound power that we wield every day as we choose between love and fear. If you have spent any measure of time mindfully and responsibly choosing between love and fear, then you know that the differences between the two are struck in sharp relief.
Choose love, and we create the inevitable consequences of that choice. Choose fear, and we reap the effects of that which we have sown. Choose love, and we experience gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, joy and peace. Choose fear, and we project shame, guilt, anger and attack. It’s a simple rule, basic cause and effect.
The Fruits of Love, The Spoils of Fear
By our choosing, we either manifest the abundant fruits of love, or we pick through the spoils of fear. In consciousness, we are doing one or the other at all times. Unity’s third principle reflects this spiritual truth. We are creating our reality through the thoughts and feelings we hold in our consciousness. The activity of your own consciousness is reality, for you. The quality of your life’s experience is determined by the choices you make every single day between love and fear. Here are some ways that may help you to identify which one you are choosing or experiencing in any given moment.
Love includes, fear excludes.
Love unites, fear separates.
Love heals, fear injures.
Love appreciates, fear envies.
Love validates, fear criticizes.
Love supports, fear attacks.
Love harmonizes, fear distorts.
Love creates, fear destroys.
Acts of Love, Requests for Love
Once we have chosen in consciousness between love and fear, our words and actions in the world will generally follow two distinct patterns. Our every action is either an act of love, or a request for love. In every instance that you choose love, you are acting from love. If you are not choosing love, you are choosing fear in its place. Your actions will not be love centered. They cannot be an act of love, because they are fear-based. Instead, they are best viewed as a request for love.
When someone makes a request for love, rarely are they conscious this is what they are doing. It is much more likely their “request” comes in the form of an attack of some sort, perhaps an attack on you personally, some other third party, or even attacks on the world at large. They feel frustrated, disempowered, and are unwilling to love in that moment. They have temporarily lost sight of the presence of love. Fear is present, and a request for love is all they can manage in the moment. The only appropriate action in the face of a request for love is an act of love.
You can immediately, and unfailingly, discern whether you have chosen love or fear in any given moment by simply observing how you feel. If you feel peaceful, you have chosen love. If your peace is disturbed, even in the slightest, you have chosen fear. If it is an act of love, you will feel an attraction towards the higher ideals of connection, oneness, and unity. Where love is present, peace is inevitable. Where fear goes, peace cannot follow.
Choosing To Love
The bottom line: love is creative power. It is much more than mere affection between people. Love is the optimal creative energy. Without the harmonizing power of love, nothing would have ever come into being or manifestation. By contrast, fear is destructive force. To wield our creative power responsibly, we must assume full responsibility for our every choice, especially those we make silently in consciousness.
To love consciously is the most powerful expression of love. To consciously choose to love is to express agape, or universal love, the highest form of love known to humankind. Agape transcends the more affectionate, interpersonal expressions of love between people in direct relationship. Agape expresses love in a universal sense, without prejudice or bias of any kind.
No one accidentally expresses agape love. It is a conscious direction of the creative energy of love towards its most universal application. Agape love is love for everyone and everything, engendering a deep appreciation for life itself, and all that comprises the experience of life. This is why it is so powerful. At the beginning and end of the day, agape love is the only path to peace, the highest choice we can make. It is also the most powerful response possible to any and all fear-based, requests for love.
