Word of Wisdom: Inspire
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
We’re all looking for motivation. Just type that word into YouTube’s search bar and a seemingly endless library of “motivational” videos will appear instantly.
We humans don’t like to feel stuck and stagnant—hence our craving for motivation, from a Latin root meaning “to move”.
But for some reason, I’ve always had an inclination toward inspiration rather than motivation. The terms are often treated as synonyms, and certainly feeling inspired often propels us into motion of some kind.
But there seems to be a distinction. For example, we can be motivated by courageous leadership or personal integrity in those around us, to be sure; but, we can also be motivated—moved into action—by a taskmaster’s bullying whip.
To inspire, it turns out, always requires more than just a means of mere mobilization.
The English word comes to us from medieval French enspiren, meaning “to fill”. Interesting at first blush, but it begs the question, “to fill with what?”
In short: life.
Originally from the Latin inspirare (“to blow, to breathe upon”), to inspire someone is literally to “breathe upon” them; to speak—to carve air into words and ideas—in a way that promotes living fully, no matter the odds.
To inspire is to tangibly put spirit in.
We see this in life and in art. Some of film history’s best moments are scenes of the freshly inspired underdog heading into the arena (like the Hickory Huskers) or onto the battlefield (like Scotland’s tribes), or, perhaps my favorite, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on the eve of almost certain death.
All of these moments share a common element: words—and the ideas they convey—filling the hearers with life for the moment at hand. Speakers quite literally breathing truths and blessings upon others that beget vision, vigor, and vitality. The spark of divine life in every breathing being fanned into flame by the breath, the spirit, of the one speaking.
This, as sons, is a way we live in imitation of the Father.
Because as the first son was “breathed into” and became a living being tasked with speaking names and meaning over the world around him, we too lead like a father when we breathe hope, courage, love, and understanding into those around us, and especially those who look to and depend on us. It is one aspect of our identity as heirs: to inherit the role of breathing life over and into others, even when the situation seems devoid of any life whatsoever.
It’s then, when we live inspired by the Spirit who redeems all things, that we become not just revealers of truth—we ourselves are revealed as sons of the one true God.
That’s more than just a breath of fresh air. It’s freedom itself, my friends.
“From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy.” Psalm 65:8b