Chapter 12 is about bhakti, which means loving devotion to God. Arjuna asks whether it is better to worship God with a form, like Krishna, or as something without any form. Krishna says loving devotion is the easier path for most people.

Then he describes the kind of person who is dear to him. It is a beautiful list, and it's not about how many prayers someone says.

This person bears no ill-will to anyone, which means they don't hold grudges. They are friendly and compassionate, which means they feel for others and want to help. They are not full of themselves. They stay steady in good times and bad. And they are forgiving.

Notice that the list is about how you treat people. In the Gita, being close to God shows up as being kind on an ordinary Tuesday.

A teenager who forgives a friend who hurt them is living this verse. So is a grandparent who welcomes a family member they had a fight with years ago.

None of us are all of these things all the time. But we can pick one quality from the list and practice it this week.