Loving others is natural when you are rested, happy, and healthy. But it gets harder when life is uncomfortable. I tend to think that I am a loving person, but there can be exceptions. What if the person isn’t loving toward me? What if I have a migraine? What if I am running late? Those times don’t feel like they count. But they do.

Proverbs 3:3 says, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Love should never leave us. We are told that it should be ingrained into the fabric of our heart, completely inseparable from our identity. We can never be perfect, but our instinct should be love.

This comes about through surrounding yourself with love. What you fill yourself up with will become a big part of who you are and how you treat others. Read the Bible and listen to worship songs when you are at your worst, hurt, resentful, or down. See the way God loves and let it flow out of you. Spend time with people you know set an example of selfless love.

Proverbs 3:3 encourage you to write love and faithfulness on your heart. That means they are integral to your identity. God created people to instinctively preform actions they believe are a part of their identity. So, people who believe they are “bookish” will read more often when they believe books are a part of their identity. When we believe we are loving people, we will naturally love others more fully and more often.

And loving people well doesn’t just help them. If you like me, think to yourself, “but what’s in it for me?” There is good news! You are guaranteed to earn yourself favor from both God and the people around you when you make love a part of your lifestyle (Proverbs 3:4). This section of scripture is written from a father to a son, reminding him not to forget his teaching (including love and faithfulness), because he will have a long and successful life if he adheres to them (Faithlife Study Bible).

So, I hope you’ll lean into your great capacity for love. You and I are loving people because we are loved by God. I can’t wait to see what he does through the faithfulness of our care for others.