All We Need Is Love, Love Is All We Need

Time for a life reevaluation… that seems to be happening a lot lately. The current question in my mind is- what is worth fighting for? Growing up I was always very aggressive and, well, I tended to get in fights. It came mainly from the bitterness that I had stored up against people in general from being made fun of and towards my parents for making me move schools. I have always been a tomboy and having all guy cousins didn’t help my aggressive nature one bit. My initial reaction towards problems was anger. I can remember one distinct moment at the sixth grade Christmas party. One of the boys was making fun of my friend. I could tell it was hurting her and I knew that she wouldn’t stand up to him… so I did. I grabbed him by the collar, pinned him up against the wall, and probably would have started beating the crap out of him had the teacher not stepped in. That’s just my nature. I take up for the weak because I know what it feels like to be weak. I’ll admit, attempting to beat the crap out of that kid probably wasn’t the best way to handle that situation, but it did get the point across to leave my friends alone. So what separates what I did from Jesus flipping the temple tables over? What are the things worth getting angry over? When can we flip tables? I’m going to have to say nothing. Radical, I know. Here’s the thing, Jesus was perfect. We are not. Jesus could flip tables and get angry with completely pure intentions in his heart. I don’t think we as human beings can do that. I think there is always I shred of bitterness in our heart when we get angry. I’m not by any means saying that I don’t get angry, oh no! I’m one of the worst. I fight daily with my self-control issues and heart’s detour towards anger. It’s still wrong. How do we spark change then? One word- love. One of my favorite Martin Luther King quotes is, “Darkness cannot conquer darkness, only light can do that; hate with never conquer hate, only love can do that.” The word “love” is mentioned 697 times in the Bible! I’m thinking that makes it pretty important! If people see us respond to our problems and pain with love how different would the world be? How much change could we spark? How many more of our conflicts would be resolved? Just simply by shifting our response to love instead of hate. I think our perspective on life as a whole would radically alter. Love has a way of changing things in extreme ways- perspective, attitudes, actions, and purpose. Let our life’s purpose be to touch everyone that walks into our lives with love. Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.