💍 From Divided to Whole: Learning to Reorder Our Loves

 “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” -- Matthew 6:33

We’ve reflected on how God’s people once divided their hearts  through many wives, many desires, and many distractions.

We’ve seen how we, too, can love God and love other things that quietly compete for His place.

So how do we begin to reorder our loves?
How do we move from scattered affection to steady devotion — from many loves to one wholehearted love for God?

🌿 1. Begin With Awareness and Ask: What Rules Me?

Every heart has a throne. Something or someone sits on it.
For some, it’s control.
For others, comfort, reputation, or security.

To reorder love, we first have to notice what has taken God’s seat.

St. Ignatius of Loyola called this “discernment of spirits” — learning to see what draws us toward God and what quietly pulls us away.

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith.” -- 2 Corinthians 13:5

A simple prayer helps:

“Lord, show me what I love too much.”

It’s not about guilt. It’s about clarity and seeing what competes with Him so we can love Him freely.

🔥 2. First Things First: Reorder by Returning

Once we recognize our misplaced loves, we bring them to God and reorder them not by removing them, but by re-ranking them.

God doesn’t always ask us to give up every good thing; He asks us to give Him first place among them.

St. Augustine said,

“To love things in the right order, so that you do not love what is not to be loved, or fail to love what is to be loved.”

It’s not wrong to love work, relationships, hobbies, or even comfort but the problem arises when they rise above the Giver.

That’s why Jesus says:

“Seek first the kingdom of God.” --Matthew 6:33

Once first things are first, everything else falls beautifully into place.

🌅 3. Choose Daily Detachment

Reordering love is not a one-time act but a daily rhythm.
Every day the world tugs at us: more, faster, better.
But detachment doesn’t mean not caring; it means holding things lightly.

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” -- Luke 9:23

Detachment says:
“I love this, Lord but I love You more.”
“I want this but not if it costs Your peace.”

It’s how saints stayed free.
St. Francis of Assisi let go of wealth and found joy.
St. Thérèse let go of pride and found peace.
Their surrender didn’t shrink their lives but it expanded them into love.

✝️ 4. Anchor Your Day in Love

If love can drift, it must also be anchored.
And our anchor is prayer.

Even five minutes of heart prayer  not just words, but quiet awareness of God’s presence starts to realign our loves.

St. Francis de Sales advised,

“Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.”

Prayer trains our hearts to remember Who we belong to.
It brings order to the chaos of competing loves.

🌤️ 5. Let Love Be Lived, Not Just Felt

Reordered love shows up in action; in patience with others, humility in success, generosity in scarcity.

“Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.” -- 1 John 3:18

When we love rightly, our choices begin to reflect God’s priorities.
Our words soften. Our schedules shift.
Peace replaces the inner noise of divided desires.

And that’s when our heart, finally, becomes whole again.

🌹 Reflection

What is one love that has taken up too much space in your heart lately?
What would it look like to reorder it by returning it to its proper place under God’s will?

Remember: holiness isn’t about having fewer loves but it’s about having rightly ordered ones.

🙏 Prayer

Lord,
You alone are worthy of first place in my heart.
Yet my love often drifts toward many things.
Teach me to order my heart rightly —
to seek You first in all things,
to hold Your gifts with gratitude,
and to let nothing replace You on the throne of my heart.
Make my love whole again,
so that my life may reflect Your peace.

Amen.