There is so much cruelty in the world. Hatred,
sarcasm, negative “humor”, hitting, hurting, killing, stealing one’s property,
stealing one’s identity are part of everyday life. We even use negativity to show our affection to people we supposedly like or love. This rampant cruelty is a
sickness in our world. People even lift up bullies as heroes, seeing bullying as a sign of confidence or strength, when in actuality it is usually a sign of insecurity or cowardice. Cruelty is unacceptable behavior. God is love. We who are lovers of God are called to
emulate God as best as possible. There is no cruelty, hatred, or fear in love.
There should be none such among God’s children. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no
fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…”
Many people go out of their way
to hurt others. Where does this come from? God has given us free will.
Therefore, we have equal ability to do good or to do evil. We can say yes to who
God is or we can say no. Saying yes to God is saying yes to love. Saying no to
God is saying yes to hate and no to love. Some who say no to God get a sadistic
pleasure out of hurting others. Some who say no to God just don’t care enough
about anything beyond themselves to even care about whether they are hurting someone else or not. Sometimes negativity is a response to personal experience.
That is a reason but is not an excuse. I read an article in Travel and Leisure
called, “How Not to Be a Jerk on an Airplane”. The fact that they felt a need
to print such an article is very telling.
We who have answered God’s call with a resounding
yes need to be intentional about how we treat the world around us. We need to
do intentional acts of kindness. We need to do extra because not only are we
doing good as our personal action but we are also trying to make up for those who
are cruel. Not only are we to be kind and loving to those we love or like, we
are also supposed to be kind and loving to strangers. If we are to imitate God,
we are to be love; we are to personify love. We have to learn to swallow that
quick biting tongue we have been conditioned to use. We have to no longer
admire the quick retort or insult. We have to hold people accountable for cruel behavior; it is unacceptable. We have to
speak love, do love, be love, act loving. If we find pleasure in hurting
someone or putting someone down or in hating someone, we are living wrong. We
have to love rightly to live rightly. Let us fully, completely, live and love
as God’s children. We can help change the world! www.fcccarrollton.org
