After observing the riots in the Middle East and seeing the anger of Muslims over a cartoon of Muhammed, it prompted me to write this article. Having seen all of that hate expressed over this cartoon also reminded me that hatred is never the path to true peace and happiness. Since religion is supposed to make us better people, I have to ask the Muslim world, how can all of that hatred make me a better person? As a Christian, the very linch pin of my faith is the idea of love. I'm not talking about the kind of love you see in the movies. That's lust. I'm talking about the kind of love that changes the world and makes it a better place to live. The kind of love that heals, that makes us want to be better human beings. The kind of love that would make the Good Samaritan want to stop on the side of the road and help a man he didn't know simply because the man was in need. The Bible teaches us that God is love (1 John 4:118). Jesus said that the greatest commandments were to love God, and then love our neighbor AS ourselves (Mark 12:28-31). This means that a crucial part of loving others involves loving ourselves so that we can love others. However, he never explained what real love was in this passage. What is real love? 1 Corinthians 13 gives us an explanation. In verses four through eight, it explains what real love is: patient and kind, without envy, arrogance or rudeness, and it seeks the truth. These values are old fashioned. We live in a society where people do evil things and then claim they made a mistake. That they shouldn't suffer the consequences because what they did was a joke, they weren't in their right minds, or any other myriad of excuses. We live in a world where a cartoon causes more anger, and a deeper call for justice, than the deaths of millions over religious fervor. Yet, what, as Christians, can we do? So why is it so hard for us to love? Why should we love our enemies? Why should we love people who may, at the very core of their existence, be evil? The lack of the ability to love comes from being hurt. From holding onto our hurts and our pain. To carrying around the burden of our sin. There are many other reasons, but these are the most obvious and basic. The path to learning to love others comes from learning to be whole. To heal. To find freedom from our sin. To let go of the pain, grudges, and hurts of the past. By letting go of these things, we become free. This is the kind of freedom Jesus offered us, a kind of freedom that isn't available in any other religion. Although other religions are bound by rulese, Christianity really isn't. The enduring concept of Christianity is grace. Grace is an undeserved gift, the love and favor of God. If he can love us even when we dont deserved to be loved, how can we not love others? I believe that only free people can truly love. Although there are many reasons that I chose to become a Christian, one of the main reasons was that Christianity offered a freedom, and a peace, that no other religion offered. With that freedom and peace comes a price though: it puts us in conflict with the world and the values of the world. Another reason that it is hard for us to love others we don't want to love is that it requires sacrifice. Sacrifice is an alien concept in our society today because it means putting the needs of others ahead of our own. It means paying a high price because we aren't gratifying our own ego. We also requires us to give up our preconceived notions and judgements of others. It requires that we care for those who may have unjustly wronged us because of their own selfish motives. What we don't often understand is that loving others isn't about who they are; it's about who we are. I believe that love is the most powerful force in the universe. I believe that love has the power to change the world that we live in. Love is the solution to the problems of the world. Love is what gives us the capacity to truly change the world and make it a better place to live in. I'm sure that this sounds simplistic, but it's the only force powerful enough to cure what truly ails us as human beings. You may say, "but I'm only one person". It doesn't matter. It only takes one person to make the world a better place. Apply the principle of love in your life, and you will watch your whole life change, your whole world change. This is how true change begins, at an individual level. Maybe you're saying, "but what will others think of me?" When you truly love others, it really doesn't matter what they think. The question now becomes, "how can I love others more"? Again, it's the path to freedom. If you haven't gotten everything out of your faith in Christ you thought you'd receive when you became a Christian, maybe it's time for a change. Christianity isn't a religion anyway; it's a way of life. It calls us to a different standard than that of the world, a standard that would make the world a better place if we only lived by it. If your life isn't all it should be today, try applying more love to it. After all, love is the only true path to lasting peace and happiness. If you want more success in business, in your relationships, and in your life, try applying love to the situation. As you change, your world will change forever. For the better. In the words of Newsong, "Love is the only solution". So let's start a "Love Revolution". |
