We’ve seen the hashtags EVERYWHERE over the past year: #BlackLivesMatter #PoliceLivesMatter #BlueLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter.

But let me ask you this: does life matter? If yes, why does it matter? Does it only matter if you fall under a certain category? Does it matter if you fit some certain criteria? What is it that determines if anyone’s life matters or not?

Is it the government's job to determine if life matters (I sure hope not)? Well, the last time someone let the government determine if life mattered or not, six million people died by way of gas chambers; science experimentation, starvation, disease, torture, and dozens of other horrible deaths we don’t want to think about. If you were too old, too young, too sickly, Jewish, Black, Christian, or anything other than a blond-haired, blue-eyed, able-bodied person, you were executed or worked to near-death. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Google “World War II Germany” or “Holocaust” and you’ll see for yourself.

Okay, so if government shouldn’t be in charge of determining if life matters, who should? Maybe the wealthier people should?

What happens when rich people are put in charge of determining if life matters or not? I can tell you in two words: human trafficking.

Did you know that “Slavery is the 2nd largest globally organized crime, generating $150.2 billion per year?

There are many different types of slavery that still go on today. It’s not just a thing of the past, and it’s just not as blatant as it used to be. You probably wouldn’t realize someone was a slave if you saw him or her on the street. Slave traders take kids, teenagers and adults from their homes and families, auctioning them off like nothing. These slaves aren’t people to the slave drivers; the slaves are more like objects to be used, sold and discarded when no longer useful. To learn more about the goings on of human trafficking and modern slavery, check out http://enditmovement.com/ and learn what’s going on around you and ways you can help.

Alrighty, let’s recap: the government and the wealthy shouldn’t be put in charge of determining if life matters, so who's left? The "Average Joe"?

So far, in 2016, we have had “1,272 Islamic attacks in 50 countries, in which 11,772 people were killed and 14,303 injured.” This is just ONE religious group responsible for so much death in less than seven months.

In the US alone, "there were 784 active hate groups in the United States in 2014" (click here for more information).

The fact that an individual has the ability to take a life instantaneously should make it very clear that NO MAN CANNOT BE THE DETERMINING FACTOR ON THE QUALITY OF A LIFE.

There is evil in this world, and there will always be evil until Christ returns. Darkness is slowly seeping into every corner of our world, and only the light of Jesus can drive it away.

God was the One Who determined that life mattered when He created humans in the beginning (see Genesis 1-2). He reestablished it when He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the Cross for us and give us life through His death and resurrection. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

So, do #BlackLivesMatter? Absolutely.

Do #PoliceLivesMatter or #BlueLivesMatter? Absolutely

Do #AllLivesMatter? Absolutely

Not because I said so, or because any other person says so, but because God says so.

"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:24-28).