Despite being the title of a friend’s favorite movie, what is love, actually?

I listened to a sermon / homily this morning that made the point that love was more than the little acts like playing a game with a child or bringing flowers to a spouse. For things to be love, it requires a sacrifice.

Generally, we are all made up of resources – like time, talents, treasure, as the saying goes. When we chose to forgo our rights to use our resources as we choose for ourselves, and sacrifice some of those resources for the betterment of others, that is love.

The aforementioned homily was focused on love and the sacrifice that shows love, and was based on a Christian perspective. However, I think that’s only one aspect of love. I’d like to take this conversation a step further into leadership. One of the tenets of leadership is “knowing and using your resources.” One has to know what the time, talents, and treasures are of others to be a leader. Everyone has different skills, how can you best use them to achieve the groups’ goals and your own?

If I’m at work, how do I use the skills my employees have to meet the program’s goals? If I’m at Scouts, how do I leverage the boys’ skills to get them to meet an objective such as a campout or a hike? If I’m leading any sort of volunteer effort, how do I get the group to achieve something for the good of the group?

You do have to know your resources. But they are not just raw resources that are there to be used. They’re attached to living, feeling, beings that deserve respect…and love…for exactly who they are. You, as a leader, should strive to be a servant leader. Yes, you should ‘know and use your resources’, but you have to know them fully, see them for who they are, not just use them for what they can do for you, but love them enough to sacrifice something of yourself to them as well.

It’s been said that one should do all things with love. I agree with that, but it is very difficult to do – because to truly do all things with love makes one vulnerable, one has to sacrifice something of their own. The results are better when done that way; and it seems to be something that we’re lacking in our society that could be improved on.