"...Love Compels us"
Dana Nolan
A mother sits by the bedside of her sick child for the third straight night.
Her body is so fatigued that every inch of her body aches. Her emotions are raw. She hasn't had a hot meal in over a week.
Today she has existed on cracker snacks and canned soda. Yet, as she stands watch over her sick child, a hot bath and
a warm bed, which would normally look so good to her, are the furthest things from her mind.
Across town, a man sits at the bedside of his aged mother. She is slowly slipping away. He has no one to help him
bear the load; he is an only child. He thinks about the last five years as he tried to keep his mother at home. The
Alzheimer's just progressed too far. He could not do it all. He tried to keep working and providing the best care for
his mom. But it was nearly impossible to do right by everyone--his wife, his kids, his brethren, and his boss.
He spends every available minute at the nursing home by her bed, praying and comforting her.
On the other side of the world, a young Marine, age 19, throws himself on a grenade and gives up his life to save
his platoon. He never thought twice as he covered that exploding device with his body. It was the ultimate selfless
act.
Three different people in three very different circumstances
have one common thread running through their stories. Something powerful inside them compels them --forces them--to
ignore what their own bodies and minds are screaming at them about self-preservation, and to act in such a way that the lives
of others are put first and positively impacted. What causes men and women to rise up in horrible circumstances and be stronger,
braver, and more selfless than they ever imagined that they could be? It can only be one thing--LOVE!
In II Corinthians 5:11-15 we read:
"Since, then,
we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to
your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride
in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are “out
of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels
us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should
no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (NIV)
What does it mean to feel "compelled" to do something? One can be "compelled" by his mother to
make his bed each day. That is a type of motivation which comes from outside of oneself. One is forced, usually
by some threat of unpleasantness, to do something he or she had rather not do or something that does not come naturally.
But there is another type of compulsion which originates within the heart of man.
It germinates because love exists and provides the impetus for action. Love seems to fertilize ability to the point that humans
rise to perform actions that they themselves did not believe they were strong enough or brave enough to do.
In these verses in II Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul explains what compels him
to preach the gospel. Most of us know the extreme trials that Paul endured to spread the gospel during the first century
of the church! ( II Corinthians 11:24-29) I would imagine that if someone had asked Paul on the front end of his
conversion if he could endure five beatings with 39 lashes, three beatings with rods, a stoning, a shipwreck, a day and a
night floating in the sea, frequent lack of food, drink, clothing, sleep, warmth, and personal safety, and constant mental
stress from those who persecuted the church and from internal problems in the churches, and imprisonments--all of these trials
constantly for about 30-plus years, that he would have probably expressed doubt that he could hold up for all of that! I also
wonder if Paul had known how many miles he would walk, constantly in peril from robbers, through rough, mountainous territory
and malaria-infested wetlands to establish and strengthen churches, would he have been able to proceed?
There is some evidence that God did just that! In Acts 9, the Lord tells Ananias
to go to Saul (Paul) and assist him in becoming a Christian! He said that He then would show Saul "how much he must suffer
for My name's sake!" (Acts 9:16) We don't know how much the Lord revealed to Paul up front. However, from
the time Paul was converted, he never faltered. He continued to spread the gospel no matter what the consequences meant
to him personally.
As we get ready to begin 2012 as vessels
of God, are we filled with this same love that Paul had which compels us (constrains us...forces us from inside) to share
the gospel with others? There is one thing that is certain. No one is going to physically make us to do this. We are not going
to be threatened with death if we fail to convert a certain number of people to Christ this year! However, there is something
that should compel us to work harder in this area. II Cor. 5:11 tells us, "Since, then, we know what it is to fear the
Lord, we try to persuade others." You might ask, what is there to fear about a loving God? The answer comes from scripture.
We respect (fear) God because He is the One Who will judge us at the end of time. Two passages come to mind which make
this concept quite clear.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 states:
"
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
And-
Matthew 10:28
where Jesus warns:
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the
One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
The two
wisest men to ever live, Solomon and Christ, both stressed the fear of God in these verses. Paul tells us if we fear God,
we will have the love that constrains us to go out and tell others how God allowed Jesus to die for all men, that all men
could live!
Most all of us in this life have someone or something
we love so much that we would willingly sacrifice our comfort, safety, or even our life for if the situation presented itself.
Some of that comes because of the natural instincts God gave us to love our families and our animals, etc. Unfortunately,
the love of souls does not always come as naturally to us. We have to learn how much more valuable the soul of a person
is than his or her body. When we really internalize the worth of souls, we start to cultivate that love for mankind that will
move us to do anything--to experience any degree of unpleasantness, including personal rejection and persecution--to reach
the lost.
As I contemplate "New Year's Resolutions"
for 2012, I cannot think of a more important thing to resolve than to have a greater love of souls in the coming year.
That love of souls will cause me to take action "that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again." II Cor. 5:15 If I love the souls of my children, I will see that they
are spiritually fed. If I care about my neighbor, I will look for ways to reach him or her with the gospel of Christ. Love
that constrains us does not give us choices. There are but two eternal destinations, and there are but two eternal states
of the soul. Will those you love be in Heaven or Hell, saved or lost?
