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The Power of Love
Love is the underlying foundation of health. This may seem surprising, but there are solid reasons why this is true. Before going into those reasons, let’s be clear about what I mean by the word love. I don’t mean romantic love, familial love, or any conditional kind of love. A simple caring kind of quality comes closest to the kind of love I mean.
Caring about oneself is essential. Here again it’s important to be clear about what I mean by this phrase. Caring about oneself does not mean focusing on one’s looks or one’s reputation. It does not mean focusing on what brings one pleasure or comfort. It does not mean focusing on gaining power, wealth or great possessions. Narcissism, hedonism, and/or materialism may be common substitutes for love, but they’re not love.
Loving oneself means caring for one’s authentic inner being. It means being in integrity with one’s highest and best self. To use an older aphorism, it means being true to one’s soul. The value of this kind of self care cannot be over-emphasized. If one lacks this kind of inner strength, no other substitute can take its place. No matter how successful any substitute seems, it does not have enduring value.
Caring for oneself in this way is necessary to truly care about others. Loving others is to care about them as authentic beings. Caring for self and others with integrity is essential for personal, family, and community health. It is the master key to good health.
To see why love is so important to health, look at what happens in the absence of love. Distrust, anxiety, loneliness, depression, fear, and/or anger begin to surface or take over in the absence of authentic caring for self and others. Examples abound in the world today. Besides tearing families or communities apart, these emotions have profound negative effects on personal health. They badly sabotage good health in multiple ways.
This is not simply abstract theory. It is intensely practical reality. The HeartMath Institute has done decades of research on the effects of various emotions on health. There is no doubt that emotions like anxiety, fear, and anger have powerfully negative effects on the human body. The heart reacts with chaotic kinds of rhythm, and destructive hormones released into the circulation impact every one of the trillions of cells in one’s body.
By contrast, love produces harmonious heart rhythms, and the messages going to all the cells of the body are beneficial. Again, this is not theory. It is measurable reality. Our cells literally relax and do their work much more effectively under love’s influence.
Biblical wisdom stated this same truth two thousand years ago, long before we had the laboratory tools to prove it. Colossians 3:14 says: “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
How do we clothe ourselves with love? Children who grow up surrounded by consistent love have a head start, but it is never too late for anyone. Practicing loving care toward oneself and others is infinitely worthwhile to our health, in every sense of the word. |