Day 15: Being Better Everyday

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Fifteen days into Lent and our fifteenth resolution is Being better everyday. Today, let's focus on a verse from the Gospel of St. Mark 12:29–30 (NABRE) proclaims the greatest commandment: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

Why would you choose anything less than to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, with ALL your mind, and with ALL your strength? Why would you choose anything less? Of course, we do choose many other things to love in life, even though Jesus is clear with this commandment.

The truth is that the only way to love others, and even to love ourselves, is to choose to love God with ALL we are. God must be the one and only focus of our love. But what’s amazing is that the more we do this, the more we realize that the love we have in our lives is the kind of love that overflows and overflows in superabundance. And it is this overflowing love of God that then pours forth on others.

On the other hand, if we try to divide our loves by our own effort, giving God only part of our heart, soul, mind and strength, then the love we have for God cannot grow and overflow in the way God wants. We limit our capacity for love, and we fall into selfishness. Love of God is a truly amazing gift when it is total and all-consuming.

Each one of these parts of our lives are worth pondering and examining. Think about your heart and how you are called to love God with your heart. And how does this differ from loving God with your soul? Perhaps your heart is more focused on your feelings, emotions and compassion. Perhaps your soul is more spiritual in nature. Your mind loves God the more it probes the depth of His Truth, and your strength is your passion and drive in life. Regardless of how you understand the various parts of your being, the key is that every part must love God in fullness.

Being better everyday finds its deepest meaning here, in this radical, all-encompassing call to love God without reserve. Daily improvement in virtue is not about small self-improvement projects or moral checklists alone; it is about progressively surrendering more and more of ourselves to this single, consuming love for God. Each day we examine our heart: Have I held anything back today? Have I loved God with less than my full strength in my thoughts, words, or actions? Have I reserved a corner of my soul for worry, resentment, or worldly attachments instead of pouring it out in love for Him?

This resolution invites us to make incremental progress toward total love: one more act of gratitude instead of complaint, one more moment of silent adoration instead of distraction, one more choice to serve rather than seek self. As we grow in loving God with all our mind, all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength, we become better not in our own power, but because His love overflows and transforms us. The more we give ourselves wholly to Him, the more we are filled and made capable of true goodness toward others and ourselves.

Reflect, today, upon the beautiful commandment of our Lord. It’s a command of love, and it is given to us not so much for God’s sake but for ours. God wants to fill us to the point of overflowing love. Why would we ever choose anything less? Let this fifteenth day be a turning point: resolve to hold nothing back, to love God more fully today than yesterday, and to let that love make you better, holier, kinder, more patient, more joyful every single day until Easter and beyond.

My loving Lord, Your love for me is infinite and perfect in every way. I pray that I will learn to love You with every fiber of my being, holding nothing back, and to daily grow deeper in my love of You. As I strive to be better everyday through this Lenten journey, help me surrender my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength to You. As I grow in that love, I thank You for the overflowing nature of that love, and I pray that this love of You will flow into the hearts of those around me, making me a better instrument of Your grace each day. Jesus, I trust in You.

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