Easier said than done.

St. Francis of Assisi penned these words as a prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, 
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.


There is a reason St. Francis penned this as a prayer, requesting that these things would be so: because this is a bunch of ridiculously hard stuff.

Ideally, it would be awesome if any of us could say these things are true of ourselves. I believe these are qualities that Christ can write onto our hearts, and I know individuals whom I believe demonstrate these actions.

It's much easier said than done.