by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project
There is so much hate in the news and social media… so much conflict and confrontation in families and communities. Corruption, injustice, and poverty is no doubt real, and so is the response to corruption, poverty, and injustice.
When reciprocating the very behavior you claim to hate in the name of injustice, you proclaim your own guilt of the same injustice. When you make an accusation in the name of inequality and then act out in a vengeful manner to “make it right,” you proclaim your own guilt of the same accusation.
If Martin Luther King could see the streets from heaven, he would surely weep. If Mother Theresa could see what’s happening in the name of religion, she would surely weep. If Nelson Mandela could see what’s happening in the name of freedom, he would surely weep. I believe what Jesus sees from his throne, breaks his heart… and he surely weeps.
Abraham Lincoln said that if we cannot live together in the name of liberty, than those who fought and died for it did so in vain. The same is true for any battle fought in any land at any time to secure freedom.
I work with kids every day, and none of this is lost on them. Love lost is killing our kids. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people from adulthood to as young as 10 years old.
We best figure this out another way.
Progress down the wrong road only takes us farther away from what we truly want most in our life exerience. It is the opposite of progress. The opposite of progress is freedom lost. Freedom lost is bondage to fear. It is only authentic love that drives out fear… not hate.
How can we love one another when we’re so preoccupied with what we hate about each other? We best figure it out…
…Sooner than later.
I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:11-13 (NLT)
