Yes. Another article about being Christian. But after the horrendous actions of pure hatred and evil that occurred throughout the past weeks, I want to say something: something that not many Christians, or anyone with a faith, have offered. I want to say that whoever is reading this, should not feel scared. And that there is hope at the end of the tunnel. I want to say that no matter who you are, you do not deserve to feel scared or hated.
Being a millennial Christian, people are already going to look at you sideways. Because you are the new generation of "Bible Thumpers." Which is fine. But I refuse to be the next generation of funeral protesters and Planned Parenthood rioters. That is disgusting. And it is the opposite of what God stands for. And I refuse to be a part of that same category as those who persecute "in the name of the Lord." I refuse to fuse together Muslims with ISIL, fuse together black people with gang violence, fuse together Spanish with immigrants. The action of fusing together two opposite ideas or groups of people needs to stop. All they do is fuel misplaced hate towards innocent people. And all that does, is spill innocent blood.
To those who say that those people we see on the news, wrongfully losing their lives, deserved to, you need to read 1 John 4:8. In case your Bible isn't near you, it says, "The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love." You are ultimately saying those who died deserve to because of their sins. But who are you to determine that? You are ultimately saying it is a good thing that they died. In that case, it is safe to say that those who think similarly, have hate in their hearts. Thus meaning they do not represent their Lord and Savior. Hate does not represent Him. Only Love can do that. There is no reason for hate or any action of hate, no matter who you are and no matter your reasoning.
To those who are afraid to walk outside or are afraid to go out with friends, you need to read Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27. The first verse says "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." As I mentioned earlier, those who point at outsiders and say that they deserve persecution, clearly have hate and anger in their being - which clearly means that they do not represent God. Period. But I want to advise those who are scared and hurt that they need to look at the hatred, and use that as an example of what not to do. The verse says to love your enemy. So do just that. Love will always vanquish hate. Prayer will always lead to miracles.
The second verse, Luke 6:27, says, "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." This verse, similar to the previous one, just emphasizes the fact that good actions will promote good actions. And these good actions will promote change.
As a Christian, my responsibility is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. But I want to do that through love and compassion. Not with bullets and hate.
