relationships

Love That Changes Everything

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-July 6th, 2026

“When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.” — C.S. Lewis

I love the wisdom in this quote. It reminds me that putting God first doesn’t lessen our love for others—it deepens it. As we grow closer to our Father in Heaven, He helps us see people more as He sees them. That isn’t always easy because our mortal perspective is limited, but His love can gradually change our hearts.

What might change in our relationships if we loved God above everything else? How would we see ourselves and those around us differently if we looked through the lens of His love?

Our Heavenly Father loves each of us perfectly and invites us to love Him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, and then to love ourselves and others. As we make Him our highest priority, He transforms the way we love, forgive, and serve. When God comes first, every other relationship is blessed.

Heart Work Begins with Him

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

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My Daily Musings-March 18th, 2026

Sometimes I think about how much heart work the gospel really requires.

Jesus taught that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength—and then to love our neighbor as ourselves. That order has always mattered.

Why does loving God come first?

Maybe it’s because He is the source of love. As we come to know Him—really know Him—we begin to understand patience, mercy, and compassion in a deeper way. His love starts to change us from the inside out.

And as that happens, loving others becomes less of a commandment we try to force… and more of a natural result of who we are becoming.

It’s a lot like growing up. As children, we don’t always understand why our parents ask certain things of us. But over time, we begin to see their love and wisdom more clearly.

Our Heavenly Father is the same. The more we trust His heart, the more our own hearts begin to reflect His.

So maybe the real question is:
Am I letting God shape my heart first?

And:
How might my relationships change if I loved others with the kind of love He shows me every day?

A Friend Like Christ

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by fauxels on pexels.com

Backstory:
In my growing up years, my family moved around a lot. In the years that I have been married, my husband and I have also moved around quite a bit. I look back on my life, living different places and making friends with different people. I feel like those experiences were hard, especially when I was growing up because I just wanted to fit in somewhere and moving around so much made it hard to feel like I fit in. But I also think that those experiences taught me to seek out good friends. I am an introvert naturally and so just going up to people, sitting down next to them and talking with them was hard for me when I was growing up. But I quickly learned, especially in school, that was the only way I could make friends sometimes so it became a little easier with each move. Now it’s not as hard for me to sit down next to someone I don’t know and strike up a conversation. One of my favorite book series is Anne of Green Gables. I think we can learn a lot about friendship from those books. One of my favorite quotes from those books is, “True friends are always together in spirit.”  I think that is definitely true. I have made many friends in my life who have made an impact on me and been great examples to me. No matter how long it has been since we have seen each other, when we do see each other again, it feels like no time has passed.

A Friend Like Christ

According to google, a friend is “a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection,
I believe that we are not meant to go through this life alone and we are meant to have some attention.
So looking back on my life I have many people to whom I have a strong connection,
Thinking about this has caused me to have a deep inward reflection.

I have made many friends in my life and those people have made a great impact on who I am today,
They have helped me through my trials and struggles along the way.
There are those people who I know will always be there for me even when we are far away,
Their friendship and love for me is so amazing that it is more than I can say.

Those who have made an impact on my life have also taught me some important lessons,
They have been there for me when I can’t figure things out and have been there to help answer my questions.
I feel like they have been there to help me navigate my journey and I could have used them against an enemy like weapons,
Those people I feel like came straight to me from the heavens.

We can all learn a lot from the example of our Savior but especially about friendship,
He was always kind to everyone no matter their hardship.
He didn’t care where they lived or in what township,
He didn’t care about their background, He would just take them with Him on his trip.

I have made many friends in different places I have lived who remind me of my Savior,
They are great examples to me of what true friends should be and I didn’t even have to do them a favor.
They put up with me even when I have felt like a failure,
I will always be grateful for those people who have helped me change my behavior.

The Takeaway: We have friends and relationships for a reason. We aren’t meant to be alone. True friends can teach us and help us along our journey. If we need an example of a true friend, we just need to look at our Savior's example. He loved everyone no matter what. We should try to be that kind of friend to others.

Ripples of Faith

/ Christine Maynor / Leave a comment

Thank you for subscribing-may these words bring a quiet moment of peace and reflection to your day.

Image by Brett Jordan on pexels.com

Backstory:
I think if we could all be kind to one another and not judgmental of people, then the world would be a much better place. I have been guilty of being judgmental and unkind to people, as I’m sure everyone can relate to. But if we could just see through someone’s eyes what they are going through, then maybe we would be more kind. We just need to follow the example of our Savior. He was always kind to everyone. It didn’t matter to Him who you are or where you came from. 

Ripples of Faith

I recently chatted with my family,
And we discussed what we would change about the world if we could change anything randomly.
I feel like if I could change anything I would give more purposefully,
And I feel like we could all love more earnestly.

I think the world would be a better place if we could get rid of prejudice and hate,
Maybe we would be kinder to people if we could see what they have on their plate.
And before we judge, maybe we should just think and wait,
We should just be kind and respectful of other people’s state.

If we would all just be kind and love one another,
If we could love our neighbor instead of just letting them suffer.
Just think of how you could change the world if you loved your brother,
Love one another with the love of a good mother.

I wish I could do more to change this situation,
We may feel like we can’t do much to change this nation.
But we can change the lives of others with just a simple invitation,
An invitation to love and be kind can be our inspiration.

Follow the example of Jesus, our great friend,
Let’s just love those in our community and start a trend.
Maybe if we start to do something it will help in the end,
And maybe our differences we could mend.

The Takeaway: We might feel like we can’t make much of a difference in this world for good. But I think that if we live like our Savior did, if we are just kind and loving to everyone, then we are starting to make a difference.