They Need to Feel Love

Imagine what it is to be thought of only as a product, a service. 

It’s typical for young girls going through adolescence to feel worthless.  Many girls spend days, weeks, even years in depression because they do not feel loved.  Many of these young women have no reason to feel such sadness other than being victim to raging hormones.  Others feel that way because of some sort of abuse or traumatic experience. 

The young women and children who are put into the horrific life of prostitution feel that way for a terrible, but very real, reason.  They feel worthless because they are told, everyday, that they can be bought.

                Sometimes, they are told that 20 times a day.  The money slipping through their fingers into the greedy hands of their pimps screams it at them, as they are sold into the complete control of their buyer, forced to smile and act happy to be with him, so that they might meet their quota for the night.

“They chose that life for themselves,” you may say.

                Is that so?

Could someone honestly believe that any 12-year-old girl chooses to be used by foul-smelling men old enough to be her grandfather?  Surely no one believes that a 24-year-old young woman chose to give up any chance of a career and nights on the town with the girls, to be instead lying in bed with a man who paid money to her pimp so that he could use her to fulfill his fantasies before beating her mercilessly and calling her names that no woman should ever be called.

“Well, maybe they didn’t choose that.  But they could get out.  They could go make something of themselves, get out of that life.  They’re not bound by chains.”

Some are bound by chains.  Some live in cages.

However, the young ladies that you probably picture when you think of a prostitute, indeed, are not bound by literal chains.  Many, though, come from broken homes that they fear returning to after doing the things that they have.  Others are deceived by their pimps, and brainwashed into believing that the men who have trafficked them into the most horrifying life imaginable actually love them dearly, and will show them a better life one day.  Whatever the circumstance is, the chains, whether physically or mentally binding, are there all the same.  And they need to be broken.

The Bible teaches us to have compassion on those who are hurting.  "So that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." -1 Corinthians 12:25-26

Girls that are sold 15-20 times a day, as if they were objects, are hurting beyond our comprehension.  And we, as people that have an opportunity to do something, should be beyond concerned.  We should be taking action. 

This is a subject on which I am extremely passionate, and writing about it to raise awareness is a way that I am taking action.  Therefore, this is not the last you will read about the slaves of today, the girls who are being robbed of their dignity and innocence at this very moment, in every part of the world (and by every part, I do include the U.S.  Atlanta, in fact, is the eastern hub of the U.S. for sex trafficking).  I pray that you will not read these words without taking some kind of action yourself. 

There is hope.  "But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish."- Psalm 9:18.  The atrocity that is human trafficking can be put to a screeching halt, if only we realize what’s happening and do something about it.  God never leaves His loved ones behind; and I, for one, want to be used by Him to save the hurting. 

If you want to know something you can do, email Christine Watson at 24thingsucando@gmail.com, and ask for the list of 24 Things You Can do to stop Human Trafficking.  These 24 things are so simple, and by doing even one, you would change a life.  You would have a part in allowing a girl the opportunity to wear a real smile again someday.  I’m sure she would be grateful.

Love is the Greatest Thing

I wrote this a while ago, but its truth has not changed.  Enjoy.

I think we all know that love is intended to be a verb.  My argument is that love is also intended to be a noun.  

1 Corinthians 13 is often called the “love chapter”- the whole chapter defines love.  But let’s take a look at the last verse of chapter 12, which introduces this chapter.  “Now let me show you a way of life that is best of all,” Paul says.

This is why I say that love is a noun- because it is a chosen way of life. 

Now, the power of love is when we live in a way that turns love from a noun into a verb.  But how do we do that?

1 Corinthians 13:4-7:  “Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

At the beginning of this past summer, I had forgotten what it was to live with love.  And I will be the first to tell you that living without love does not leave one in a good place.  I was falling from God, losing hope, and letting grief and bitterness take over.  I had no idea who I was, except that I felt worthless and empty.  Surely every teenager has felt this way.  But I would encourage you, when you feel empty or worthless, or if you feel like you are searching for something that you cannot find- examine your life for love.  For this is what Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 13:2- “If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.”

Without love, we’re nothing.  What we should pursue, then, is to live love.

That’s not the real point, though.  Though we should strive to live with love, we all stumble in that.  My point is this- God is love.  This definition of love that we find in 1 Corinthians is the definition of the God that we worship!

 He never gives up.  He never loses faith.  He is always hopeful.  He endures through every circumstance.  1 John 4:8 says, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

 Don’t forget who it is that we worship.  Let’s strive to know Him, by loving.

As unfathomable as it may seem, do not forget that God loves you no matter what you have done.  Romans 8:38-39 is my favorite passage of Scripture, because it confirms that.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This love is beautifully inevitable.  We cannot escape it.  And isn’t that the greatest thing to be captured by?

Flawed are my dreams, but perfect is His purpose.

I have always admired John Mayer.  Though I am not an advocate of many of his actions, the musician within me cannot help but look up to the diligence and talent required to be the musical performer that John Mayer is.  While watching one of his live performances a couple of days ago, I experienced the jealousy and guilt that I feel whenever I see someone so gifted.  I feel the same way whenever I watch a child prodigy play the piano, or hear of a friend who excels in academics more than I do.  I become convinced that there is no excuse for me to be any less skilled than these gifted individuals.  And suddenly, my priorities are completely askew, and being as good as or better than the person that I feel inferior to becomes number one on my list of what’s important.

God has not commanded me to feel that way.  He does not want me to strive to be like another sinful man; instead, He commands me to follow in His footsteps, and be like His Son Jesus Christ.

 

Matthew 4:18-22 tells this story: “One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ And they left their nets at once and followed him.  A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.  They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”

 

Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John all left their lives as fishermen behind to follow Jesus.  Fishing was a way of life for these boys, but they left their nets at once to follow Jesus and be a part of His work on earth.  These boys were most likely quite young, and I imagine that they had dreams and goals that they had spent years pursuing.  However, these young men realized that Jesus had just offered them something bigger and better than they had ever dreamed, and their worldly dreams dropped out of their hands along with the nets as they ran to catch up with the man who would show them how to change the world. 

That is what God is waiting to show all of us.  God has created a purpose for our lives that we could never compete with by using our own desires; and so, we have to drop our nets.  I must drop my dream of living up to the legend that a fellow musician is leaving behind him, and choose instead to follow the God who created the music.  My goal must be not to be great in music, but to greatly glorify God with the gifts He has given me in music.  To be Christ-like is far better than any five minutes of fame that I might have by playing the guitar as well as John Mayer.  God has the most beautiful plan for my life.  All I have to do is drop my nets, and follow Him.

He never gives up, no, He never lets go.

How many times have you heard someone say that they have a good relationship with God? That their relationship with God is their priority?
How many times have you said that?

....Have you ever stopped and asked yourself if it's true?

I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of letting those words roll off my tongue without a thought. I certainly am, and in fact, I may be the very worst about it. But, I have to wonder, what would God be saying about that if we could hear Him speak? After all, He is always with us. He's always listening, watching.

What would you say?

Picture it. You have been following the one you love around for as long as you can remember. You love him/her with your whole heart, and you know that you are meant to be together. You've forgiven every fault they have and you just love them to their very core. Sometimes, they act like they love you, too. Those are the best times, because you get to be close to them, and hear them talk directly to you. They even listen to you sometimes, and get to know you. But then, they drop you once again, for the next "shiny" thing that they happen to find. It kills you to see them go off the right track, and you advise them against it, but they ignore you. Soon, it's been days, weeks, months, since they've talked to you. You stay right beside them, though, because you love them that much. Some people lead them further off track. Those people ask about you, but the one you love stands there and denies knowing you. Or maybe they don't deny you with their words, but their actions certainly deny any type of a relationship with you. Weeks later, a different group of people approaches your beloved. This group is a better influence, and they like you. When the group asks this person, the one that you've been following for years and years, about you, he says, "We have a wonderful relationship. I love her more than anything, she's beautiful and amazing. Let me tell you all about her, I know her so well."
    So? What would you say?

The thing is, we do that to God all the time. It's sad. I hate that I do it, but I do. You know what's amazing, though?
                There He is. Right beside me.

In spite of the fact that I run away from Him, deny Him, and even sometimes lie about the strength of my relationship with Him. …He still loves me.
It makes me want to know God more. To listen to what He has to say, and learn from His ultimate wisdom. I want to know His love as intimately as I possibly can. To follow in His very footsteps and never leave His warm embrace.
Would you like to come along with me?

"For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." -1 John 2:16-17