Peace to You!Sample

[IMAGE CONTENT] ## CREATED TO LOVE "This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ~ 1 John 3:11 After leading a prayer vigil in front of Albany City Hall in 1962, Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. spent more than two weeks in jail. While enduring this unjust treatment, he penned sermons about loving enemies that would later become part of his book The Strength to Love . His powerful message declared love as a catalyst for social and political change. Inspired by Dr. King’s teaching over the years, I’ve prayed for my biracial sons, now adult men. My husband and I have taught them to fight hate with love, which isn’t always easy. When it seems like hate is winning, I cry out to God. How long, Lord, will we be divided by hate when we know You created us in Your image and commanded us to love You and others? God instructed His people to love “from the beginning” (1 John 3:11). He proclaimed, “Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them” (v. 15). God urged His people to use our words, our actions, and our attitudes to show love toward one another (vv. 16–18). As we stand against injustice, the Holy Spirit will empower God’s people to “believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us” (v. 23). We are created to love. REFLECT & PRAY How has God helped you love people who are different from you? Why is it vital for you to respond to hate with love? Loving Creator and Sustainer, help me to love You and others as I celebrate our differences and our sameness as Your beautifully diverse and purposefully connected people.