In about 1962, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles released a song entitled “You Really Got A Hold On Me.”  Some of the lyrics are especially interesting, and I want to revisit them briefly.  Join me for a trip down memory lane or ancient history, depending on your age.

They opened with the words:  “I don’t like you, but I love you…”  The message conveyed was that the other person had such a hold on them that they could only think about the other person.  Love blinded the reality of treatment, and the confession of “I don’t like you was overpowered by, but I love you.”  

I sometimes wonder if that is not the condition of many in America today.  People Do Not Like many things that the government or political parties are doing, but they love the entitlements and utopian ideology offered.  Reality seems to take a back seat to their visualization of the concept they are presenting or maybe the personal benefit via some entitlement. Perhaps even a commitment due to race, gender, sexual preference, activism, or ideological agenda blinds our minds to reality.  Whatever many today are saying about government and government overstepping its constitutional bounds – “I don’t like you…”

The next verse says:  “I don’t want you, but I need you…”  That is possibly even more revealing about today’s world.  We do not want what is being done to our government, liberties, and freedoms, but we have the misguided impression that we Need Big Government to continue being the Golden Goose laying the Golden Eggs.  The acknowledgment in the song, “You do me wrong,” is clear, but then the offset, “My love is strong…”  Is it love or a sense of obligation, dependency, and fear of having to stand on our own?

The next verse presents an amazing declaration:  “I wanna leave you, don’t wanna stay here.  Don’t wanna spend another day here.  I wanna split now…”  That is the cry of many that I speak to about the present state of our Constitutional Republic, but then I hear the same sentiment as the song:  “I can’t quit now.  You’ve really got a hold on me.”  Once the government or anything creates a condition of dependency, we are hooked and find it virtually impossible to break free of the bondage, dependence, and lack of self-worth or value and are slaves to the system.

The cry of many can be found in the words:  “Baby, I love you, and all I want you to do is just hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me…”  So many live in such a state of desperation and despair that they genuinely want the government, someone, or something to care for them and show them love. 

That will never come from the government, for it is an impersonal system manipulated by professional political elitists who are interested in power, not people.  It will not come from uncaring and unloving people who use and manipulate, and it will not come from drugs, alcohol, or even money.  Real Love, compassion, and concern do not come from government, politicians, or selfish manipulators. The sooner we face that reality, the sooner we can hope to be freed from our prison of dependency.

So, what do we do?  I have discovered that abuse is the likely result when anyone becomes overly dependent upon another.  I have seen it in relationships where a woman or man develops such a dependency on another that their significance is tied to maintaining a fictional relationship and opening the door to abuse. 

Love does not abuse nor become overly dependent.  I have seen it in economics, churches, and politics, and my heart breaks for those enslaved and blinded by the need to be wanted, cared for, and loved. 

Today, I pray that God will help each one break free of that which enslaves.  May the Lord help us to learn to place our trust and confidence in Him and see reality for reality and refuse to be driven by a need that imprisons and be led by love that empowers us to become better!

Our children and grandchildren deserve better than what we are allowing to be left to them. It is time that we wake up and reclaim our Republic as we join the fight for Faith, Family, and Freedom!

God bless you, and God bless America!