Inspiring Love
* I wrote this post in the beginning of February 2011 on my old website, but wanted to re-post it here. Enjoy! *
As I sat down at the piano tonight to prepare a set list for the worship time I’m leading on Monday, I started looking for songs that talk about God’s love and our love for Him. Since love is on everyone’s minds this time of year anyway, I figured it would be good to refocus those I lead and myself on our One True Love. (Why is it so hard for me to remember how much I’m already loved? I have such short-term memory sometimes.) As I looked through different songs, it occurred to me that nearly every one of the “love songs” in my binder talked about God’s sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as a natural extension of His love for us. I don’t know that I’d ever really thought of it like that: Love always inspires action.
Think of it this way, when a man loves a woman (yes, yes, I’m singing, too – go right ahead), that love inspires him to sacrifice his time, energy, and money in pursuing her. It eventually inspires him to buy a ring, propose, and marry her. When a woman has a baby, and something threatens that child, boy, had you better watch out! Her love for that baby will push her to do insane things to protect him or her. When daddy’s little girl goes out on her first date, you know Dad is sitting on the front porch cleaning his shotgun in order to scare her date clean out of his wits because he loves his daughter; he doesn’t want any boy just playing with her heart.
Yes, love always inspires action. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,” right? He loved, so he gave. That simple cause and effect relationship is giving me considerable pause tonight. What do I love? And what am I doing about it?
A friend of mine shared a video on Facebook today of two reporters going undercover as a pimp and his prostitute talking with a Planned Parenthood counselor about getting STD testing and abortions for his underage, illegally trafficked girls. I sat there watching the video with my jaw on the floor. Who in their right mind would HELP a pimp run a sex-trafficking business and advise him on how to cover his tracks so the authorities won’t ask questions?! Does this woman have no soul? No humanity? That video had me crying for the poor girls for whom this situation is a reality, not just an undercover story. If I love God’s children like He does, if I love the millions of children sold into the sex trade each year, what am I going to do about it?
One of my former RAs caught the vision of doing something about human trafficking last year. She and a group of young believers from her church organized an event called The Cry 2010 to raise awareness about human trafficking, pray that God would hear the cries of the desperate and hopeless people trapped in this industry, and help people like you and me figure out how to get involved and do something.
I am incredibly impressed and humbled by the Love that inspired these individuals to create The Cry, and I know my God is calling me to act this Valentine’s Day. I don’t know where, when, or how yet, but I’m listening and looking for that open door. I’m ready to move. I’m ready to experience a Love that pushes me to action. What will your love inspire you to do?
As a former University Resident Director, Career Counselor, Certified Personality Trainer, and high school Spanish teacher, Laura has quite the “scattered” background — with one underlying theme: education! She writes to teach and inspire women on topics related to faith, family, and lifework. She is also a resume writer, specializing in resumes for moms, career changers, and new graduates.
