Recently in Orlando, along with several other places, tragedy has struck. It's been one of those things that, logically, you know you can't do much to help from afar, but is so hard to sit back and watch happen. In the midst of these tragedies, we all know that various articles and opinions are going to be shared via social media. And I think that's a good thing. We all should hear various people's points of view so we can fully develop an opinion of our own on each situation. Regardless, it breaks my heart that all these opinions and articles are necessary, but my hopes are that this one doesn't get overlooked solely because it's a topic that I have noticed not a lot of people like to talk about. It creates controversy.
The most common theme I've seen throughout all of these social media posts following these events is love. Love everyone you encounter in every way possible, and don't be ashamed of it. Love everyone you encounter in every way possible and don't be ashamed of it. What a powerful statement. In my opinion, though, some people don't actually hold true to that. Some people do, but not everyone.
Often, with Facebook posts and news articles shared, I've seen the number 49 associated with the Orlando shooting. Forty-nine represents the number of victims, lives lost and tragedies. By utilizing this number, though, we aren't showing love to everyone. We're forgetting about the 50th person. I understand that the 50th person was indeed the person responsible for the other 49 tragedies. Without him, we wouldn't be in this horrible situation. But, he was a life that was lost and was a victim of his own actions, just as the other deaths were. Besides, he was obviously a man who was in need of a little more love than he was given. We shouldn't love him less because of that. If we're going to show our sympathy for those 49 families, we should do the same for the 50th.
John 15:12 says, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." God loves us unconditionally, and this is how we are to love others, even the people who construct such tragedy in our world. Obviously, this man should've shown his love in the first place by not killing those 49 people. In no way am I trying to hide that. But the idea is that we should love others despite of who they are and what decisions they make. Besides, as humans on Earth, we are in no position to decide who is worthy of our love and who isn't. Often, the people who we think are the least deserving of our love turn out to be the ones that need our love the most. And that's the idea that I think a lot of people are missing. We don't have the right to decide who we give our love to. It should be unconditional, as God's love is for us. I know it's not always easy and I know it's not always fun, but sometimes it ends up being worth it.
I understand that this event is extremely recent and is still extremely devastating to some. I don't think the severity of it will ever go away. Because of this, I know that it will take people awhile to be open to the idea of showing love to such destructive people, and that's OK. I'm still not fully open to it myself. It's hard to accept people sometimes, but I'm working on it, as we all should be. But I'm hoping that the world will eventually realize that hating people sets us back further than where we started.
1 John 3:15 says, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in Him." This tells us that when we hate someone, we are no better than the one who puts his hate into action. It continues to tell us that if we hate someone, we will never reach eternal rest. So, if through hating someone we have no chance of eternal rest, then where does hating someone get us? To me, not far.
God's plan for us is not what happens to us through life, but rather how we become Christ to others on earth through what happens to us. Next time you are given the choice, choose to react with love.
