My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
John 15:12, NIV
Today we honor a man who decided that his life was best dedicated to a cause greater than himself. This was an act of love, pure love. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood it when Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
Rev. Dr. King said that “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” He did not say that harsh words, weapons, power, money, politics, religion, possessions, or even human will can create friends. He said that love is the only thing that can wipe out the stains of injustice, violence, discrimination, and division.
As we head into another historic presidential inauguration, with a country seeking to destroy itself, the words of Jesus and the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. speak to us. We have an opportunity to get it right if we heed their words. We can still turn from our wicked ways and experience healing in the land. We must act now, while there is still time.
The simple force of love is what we need most now.
Loving is hard. It is a constant choice, a moment-by-moment decision to do the opposite of what is expected of us in the face of opposition. We are hard-wired to survive at all costs. We are hard-wired with a fight or flight syndrome that is now manifesting itself in unspeakable ways in our nation.
Some of us are fighting on the wrong side of justice. Some of us are fleeing from the responsibility of fighting on the right side of justice. Some of us are immobilized with fear, hurt pain, and anger. Some of us are mesmerized by the false promise of perfect lives filled with unlimited blessings based on our good behavior. Some of us just don’t know what to do.
No matter, where we stand in all of this. Three things remain faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. If you are filled with fear, perfect love casts out fear. If you don’t know who to love, it’s your neighbor. If you don’t know how to love, use your life to do what Rev. Dr. King admonished us to do, “Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”
Our prayer at Love Speaks Daily is that you find yourself so in love with and loved by God that you are compelled to obey the commandment of Christ Jesus to love one another.