Love Changes Everything

Dear children, let us not love with
words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.

~ 1 John 3:18

Our world is often a cold, lonesome place. A place filled with darkness, death, violence, fighting, killing. A world where over four thousand innocent babies can be murdered in a single day, in one country alone. A world filled with so much despair that someone will
claim his or her life every forty seconds. A world where interaction and caring for others only continue to decline, where being understood, cared for, and loved is becoming less likely with every second that passes. It is a world that shoves people away from each other, alienating them and turning them against each other more and more.

I write this for a man I do not know…a man desperate for help with psychological problems he suffers from, yet outcast. Days ago, this man shot three people, killing one and seriously injuring two others. Now, many more have turned against him, insulting and demeaning him, particularly on the internet. I refuse to turn against him, however, though I have never met him, know very little about him, and never will meet or speak to him. He is a man who needed understanding, comfort, and help in his great despair and trouble, but could not receive it. People ridicule and insult him for falling, when they
themselves refused to help keep him up. Now, I refuse to let them try and keep him down.

Our society seems to forsake the people who need it the most.

I speak this from my own experience with my sufferings from depression. At the times when I needed love, care, and understanding, I was most hated, overlooked, and disregarded. When I cried out most desperately in need of help, few cared enough to love and care for me. This is true for all in our world who need help the most. For example, the elderly, who are lonesome and more in need of attention than almost ever, are thrown into nursing homes and alienated from their families. The frightened pregnant mother is solely coerced into getting an abortion rather than receiving help, options, and support. And, possibly the worst, the disabled, depressed, and mentally, emotionally, and psychologically troubled individuals are labeled as “crazy,” laughed at, ignored, and outcast from society.

What changes this? Love. Love makes us understanding toward all people no matter who they are or what they may need. Because God is love, we then realize that every single person in the world is God’s child. We must then love and care for them just as if they were ourselves. How do we do this? By standing up for everyone, even if nobody else will. The man I talked about earlier has become a target of hatred, insults, and mocking in the social networking community. I chose to stand up for him, and tell others that what they were doing was wrong. Consequently, many have realized this and decided to stop and cease to be part of it any more, because of my simple action.

What is my point? Why am I writing this?I am not writing to defend a guilty man as innocent. I am not really writing about the man at all. I am writing to witness to the power of love. My simple loving action for someone I attempted to try and understand and be compassionate towards has affected more people than I would have ever imagined possible. I realize now that even alone, I can make a huge, large-scale difference. Sometimes, it’s something that I forget to think about or realize. I assure you, however, that if I can make a difference, you sure can too!

I challenge you now to show love those around you most in need. Don’t be afraid to tell those who are close to you that you love them. At the same time, though, don’t be afraid to love those who aren’t close to you. Let’s see if that doesn’t fix our world!

Don’t be afraid to show that you love others!

God Bless,

Chris