Love is Essential

As we continue to navigate these days of who and what is deemed essential by our political leaders, I can't help but feel this phrase rise up louder and louder inside of me: LOVE is essential. There's so much controversy over every aspect of the country shutting down over Covid-19. We should be open/we should be closed/we should have shut down sooner. Masks should be mandatory/requiring masks infringes on my freedom. And then there's the racial tension and injustices that are the focus of so much of our daily conversations (which it should be) the manipulative topics of media sources around the world. The list of topics that divide us goes on, and on, and on some more. The issues are polarizing and so much hatred is flowing from every direction. We're in the midst of a time where the same mouths that are proclaiming the importance of "standing together" and "supporting each other" through crisis, are also screaming such hateful rhetoric and increasing division over these issues. More than ever, LOVE is ESSENTIAL!

At some point, a large majority of our society has exchanged the ability to "agree to disagree" for a hatred towards opposing viewpoints. Did you know, I can love you even if I disagree with your position on an issue? I can even love you after having a conversation about a "touchy" topic, discovering we disagree, neither one of us change our minds, and still walk away friends. This is a concept that seems to be nearly unheard of in our current state. If I didn't vote for a particular leader, yet you did, I better block you on every social media source because "I just can't be associated with someone like that". I've heard people judging someone's intellect or character, solely based on the letter represented on their voting registration.

Unfortunately, many christians are at the forefront of so much of this hatefulness, using "God hates sin" as their defense of how they treat someone they've deemed a "sinner". Just this morning I read a friend's social media post that said "I don’t think I will EVER understand why some people hate us homosexuals." Typically, I stay out of most social media discussions, especially on polarizing topics like these. I'll sit down and have a conversation with anyone about any topic, but behind a screen, I feel like it seldom does any good and escalates too quickly to accomplish much. But, this solution is so clear to me, and it has absolutely nothing to do with someones sexual preferences or convictions. I immediately responded to my young friend with, "Hate is never 'understandable'. It goes against the very nature of God and what He created us to be. I don’t have to agree with everything (or anything for that matter) that you say or do to love you, or anyone else. If the whole world could catch that concept, what a difference it would make!" There's so much freedom in the realization that my job isn't to force change, or convictions, or anything else on other people. My job is to 1)love God and 2)love people. That's it! If we believe that God is love (which I do), we cannot hate anything he's created, hate cannot exist within us. God hates sin, because He loves us SO much and knows what sin does to us, the cycle of destruction it has on our lives. Anyone who says God hates homosexuals, democrats, republicans, a particular race, or literally ANYTHING else other than sin, is wrong and has a misunderstanding of who God is and how He loves us.

LOVE is essential. In every single area of our lives. I believe, if we'll focus on loving people and showing them the goodness of God, then He will take care of showing them His best for their lives. We tend to take too much on ourselves, when we serve an all powerful God, who is the very essence of overwhelming, life-changing love and acceptance. Go love some people today! And every day after that!