Embrace LOVE/Listen to Andy Mineo! What does LOVE have to do with Andy Mineo? Well, I LOVE listening to Andy Mineo. That’s the commonality.

Actually, I’ve been learning about LOVE (real LOVE) and teaching my Sunday School class about it. At the same time, I’ve been getting myself ready for Lecrae’s Anomaly Tour which will be around my neck of the woods this week! In order to prepare for the concert, I have to listen to my Lecrae and Andy Mineo cds over and over again. I feel bad for the folks (i.e. mama)  who get into my car this week.  At least, it’s positive music!

I’ve been listening to these guys for a while now, and I appreciate their gift of creating cool, thought-provoking music. Specifically, Andy Mineo’s first CD, “Heroes for Sale” ministered to me after my sister passed away. His second cd, “Never Land” does not only make my head bob around, but it makes me think more about my spiritual life. I LOVE the following line on his song “Death of Me:” “If you wanna grow in God, it’s not complicated. It’s just costly.” And it’s true! I believe that growth in God requires stretching, being uncomfortable, and making sacrifices. I have to give up some things in order to gain God’s rewards!

I feel that LOVE (authentic LOVE) is costly! In my own personal Bible study and in my Sunday School lessons with the kids, I have been learning about God’s commandments surrounding LOVE. God requires me to LOVE Him and to LOVE others. And I am not going to lie; I do not think it is always easy to LOVE folks. But loving folks has become my goal. It’s one of the reasons that I chose to enter the field of social work. I want to really LOVE and support folks.

Now, this authentic LOVE means that I have to LOVE folks past their meanness and attitudes. When I am at work, school, church, etc, I have to choose to LOVE and not hate folks. I was real with my Sunday School class, and I told them that we have to LOVE folks even when they get on our nerves. If I think about it, my family and friends have still loved me when I got on their nerves. They made the sacrifice to LOVE me past my ugly ways. And Jesus is an even greater example of this principle! Jesus still loves me when I am acting up! So, if He can love me, than I can choose to LOVE others!

I LOVE how music parallels with whatever God is teaching me! Andy Mineo’s “Never Land” encourages me to knock the idols out of my life and to grow closer to God. I am forced to think about what is really important in my life: popularity or God? Pleasing people or pleasing God?  Choosing hatred or choosing LOVE?

My prayer is to embrace LOVE even when it feels challenging to do so!

Please do me a favor and listen to Andy Mineo’s “Death of Me” below. You’ll appreciate it! But I am kinda biased, because I enjoy listening to his music!