Dear friends, this week many of us will celebrate Valentine’s Day…a day often filled with thoughts and actions of love for our beloveds. I want to speak to you about the importance of loving one another as a people.
In a world that can be filled with division and hate, it's more crucial now than ever to remember the power of love and compassion. As followers of Christ, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. This means that we must extend kindness and understanding to those around us, even when it's difficult or inconvenient. When we love one another, we create a sense of unity and belonging that transcends all barriers--race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and socioeconomic status. Loving one another also means standing for the marginalized and the oppressed. It means speaking out against injustice and doing everything in our power to create a more equitable world.
When we love one another, we demonstrate the kind of selfless, sacrificial love that Jesus showed us. But loving one another isn't just about what we do; it's also about how we think and feel. It's about changing our attitudes and perspectives, so that we can see others not as enemies or threats, but as fellow human beings worthy of dignity and respect.
So, my friends, let us be agents of love in this world. Let us demonstrate our love for one another through our words and actions. Let us embrace diversity and seek to understand those who are different from us. And let us never forget that every one of us are children of God, created in the image of the Divine and deserving of love. May God bless us as we strive to love one another, and may we be a source of hope and light to those around us.