When Love is Forced

I posted something on social media that caused a bit of a stir. Perhaps you saw the original post and wanted to engage in a conversation but couldn’t because the original post was removed due to unintended reactions.

If you are here to have a genuine conversation, then this is your invitation to the table. For the next few days, I will read, contemplate, and thoughtfully respond to your comments. Plus, I have snacks.

She Said What?!

For those who didn’t see the original post, I’m sure you’re curious. This is what I posted:

The caption with the photo read, “Any forced ‘act of love’ is generally called rape.

It was a deliberate choice of words, and I intentionally set privacy to ‘public’ because I wanted to provoke a reaction that would cause widespread genuine contemplation and discussion. 

However, there were two matters that I didn’t fully consider:

The first is that I wanted to encourage discussion but I didn't exactly leave it open to invite a conversation with me. Besides, Facebook is full of washroom warriors and it's hard to have a thoughtful discourse with your pants around your ankles. (I’m talking about myself, of course.)

The second is the word rape is a trigger word for men & women who are still in the process of overcoming personal trauma.

I could say that words are just words, but that’s not true, is it? The world was created by a word, Jesus IS the word, and it’s by the name of Jesus that we are saved.

So then, since you know that I know that words are powerful, why would I deliberately choose such an explosive word? Great question.

If “Love” is Required, Is It Still Love?

There is a backstory and it starts with a dream… the kind you have while sleeping. 

Several years ago, I was wrestling with the Lord about a personal issue. I had a disturbing dream that I was being violently raped, but that wasn't the disturbing part. What disturbed me was that I liked it.

I woke up and did everything I knew to do to get the “slime” off me. I rebuked the devil, I prayed a prayer of deliverance, I pleaded my case in the courts of heaven. Nothing seemed to alleviate the foulness I felt.

After three weeks of being disgusted and bothered by the dream, the Lord finally said to me, You know that dream you had?

Yeah?, I replied.

It wasn’t from the devil. I gave you that dream to show you how disgusted I am with any forced act of love. It was shocking because you needed to feel how repulsive it is to me, He answered.

It’s a lesson I can’t easily forget.

Allowing people to act, think and speak freely is scary because they might use that freedom to abuse you. People will get hurt, they might even die. To safeguard our own personal sense of safety, we look to those who can make laws to keep us feeling secure.

True freedom requires self-control (the ability to control yourself) and self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. In fact, love and self-control are the two cap ends to the list that makes up the fruit of the Spirit. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

The topic of discussion I attempted to raise wasn’t about whether or not the Covid vaccine is good or bad. It was a one-line editorial about how I viewed the government mandate to receive the vaccine based on their media marketing campaign.

What media marketing campaign?

The media campaign says if you love your family, you should get the vaccine to keep them safe. What it not-so-subtly implies is that if you don’t get the vaccine then you don’t love your family.

Fighting Words

It makes love the fighting point and distracts from the many other reasons why someone may or may not choose to get the vaccine.

In other words, the media has weaponized love. It’s being used in such a way that makes people who do not consent feel violated, powerless, and not in control of their own bodies. Hmm, the effects sound similar to a certain controversial word, doesn’t it?

What To Do If You’ve Been Violated

When I feel violated or powerless, my go-to response is worship… with worship flags if possible. Instead of dwelling on what hell is doing, I focus on heaven’s response and worship is the best way for me to do that.

Instead of reacting in fear, I respond with the opposite spirit. If freedom is taken away, then I release freedom that is found through Christ alone. Freedom worship flags make it easy to do that.

When love is used as a weapon, I choose to use the circumstance to produce more fruit of the Spirit. Your Love is Better worship flags are wonderful prophetic tools to declare the things that are in your heart but what you don’t have the words to say.

Table Talk

There’s more to say, but I’m interested in what you think. Should love, in the form of forcing people to get the vaccine, be mandated?