2. Sacrifice Your Idol. Once we’ve identified the idol that is separating us from God’s love, we have to sacrifice it. Sacrificing the idol does not mean giving up our desire for greater security, or another child, or a more intimate marriage, or whatever it is we are envious of others about. Those are all fine things to want, but they cannot be more important to us than God’s love. When we value these things more than we value our intimacy with God, we set ourselves up for feeling that our dignity is dependent upon achieving or keeping those things. Pray, “Lord, this desire of my heart is important to me and I ask that if it is your will that you grant me my heart’s desire. But Lord, I’m sorry that I have come to love it more than I love you or desire your love for me. Help me to want your love first and most and help me to always remember that whatever I may or may not have or do, my dignity and worth both rest in you.”
3. Practice Kindness. If our dignity rests in experiencing God’s love, we reclaim our experience of God’s love by sharing that love with others. We are taught that we “find ourselves by making a gift of ourselves” (Gaudium et Spes). Kindness enables us to make a small gift of ourselves by looking for ways to make other people’s lives easier or more pleasant. Kindness is the superpower that enables us to put a smile on someone’s face just by walking into the room. Kindness looks for little ways to communicate God’s love to others and. in turn, when they look at us, we see our dignity and worth reflected in their eyes.
Pope Francis has this superpower. He does the simplest things and the entire world perks up. When we can make people smile just because we have walked into the room, it is impossible to doubt our dignity, worth and significance. Have you ever made a child smile? Did you ever just walk into a room and have your child or your spouse or your best friend just light up–simply because you were there? Do you ever feel better about yourself than in that moment? I can’t think of a better illustration of how kindness is the most authentic means of fulfilling our innate longing to know that we are worth something to someone.