Christian novels are a source of inspiration and encouragement for people like me, who often seek new ways to live out their daily Christian lives. Throughout high school, I read books on pirates, restoring love, redeeming love, forgiveness, second chances and on many adventures that Christian men and women experienced. Through these different adventures, they experienced God’s presence, love, forgiveness and grace. Of course these were a lot of fiction books, but the biographies demonstrated God’s presence, wisdom, grace, love, protection and his patience with us.

I wished with all my heart I could live my life like the characters in both the fiction and autobiographies. Their relationships with God and those around them inspired me to define myself and lifestyle in Christ without focusing on what people would think. They taught me that my relationship with God and individual people was personal and I shouldn’t relate with people based on how my neighbor related with them.

One of such books, which I reread recently was titled “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers. She lays before us two characters who are from two backrounds and yet God’s grace abounds in both of them. Angel the female character, expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive towards the men who used her, leaving her empty and dead inside. However, God tells Michael Hosea to marry her, making the entire book of Hosea come to life. Michael is a man after God’s heart, and he marries angel and loves her unconditionally, constantly battling Angel’s fury and rage towards men.

With the passage of time, she sees his unrelenting love for her through his actions, his gentle encouragements and his unending love even after she runs away several times and he still forgives her. Gradually, his unrelenting love begins to tear down her walls and she takes off once again, because she felt unworthy of his love. According to her, he needed someone who had not been soiled in her life. She didn’t deserve him. On her way to make it on her own, her past caught up with her, creating a decisive moment of truth.

Once again in front of lustful men, waiting for her to sing the well-known entertaining songs to arouse the crowd’s appetite, she sang “Rock of Ages”. Silencing them with her new found lyrics, she stared down at them, asking them why they were not at home with their wives and families. In that instant, Angel knew she no longer belonged to such a place.  Following a small silent voice she had heard a few times, she walked off the stage ready for whatever punishment her owner had. Ready for those burning angry eyes, she faced an uncertain fearful man who was unsure of the new woman before him. Before he could do anything to her, her angel came in and asked if she was ready to leave. She said yes, but would need time to collect the children.

When she walked onto the stage with the children, the men went wild with rage to know that child prostitution was also practiced. Her long life enemy was nowhere in sight nor the man who had guarded her. They had fled.

Well Angel met with her maker and understood where Michael Hosea got his unrelenting heart to love her from. His voice was kind, warm, assuring and gentle. All her life, Angel had felt neglected, unworthy, unloved and blamed herself for ever being born. At that moment, she realized that none of what happened in her life was ever her fault.

She dedicated her life to helping women like her find their way in life. As a bonus, she went back to Michel after three years to find his arms wide open to receive her. Now that is REDEEMING LOVE. How many of us suffer with guilt? God’s love is unconditional. It does not keep a record of all the wrongs we have done, nor it counts us unworthy of him. If that was the case, he would not have sent his son to come down and shed his blood, so that we might be cleansed from our sins. He calls us out of the dirt and cleanses us with his REDEEMING LOVE.