"Love one another as I have loved you." John 13:34
I was on my way to work driving east on Dodge Street in early
May. A song was playing on the radio as I approached 40th Street. The
words were: "What the world needs now is love sweet love." I thought
to myself, "Yes, that's just what we need." We don't need any more
hate. We need love.
We all saw the pictures on the TV of the bombing in Oklahoma
City. We read the stories in the newspaper. The Internet has pictures
and more stories about what happened that day. One story is about a
nurse, Rebecca Anderson, who lost her life trying to rescue people.
(The Internet address is
http://www.ionet.net/opubco/giving.html
.)
Rebecca cared for others. However, the bombers did not care who they
killed. Hate was their motivation. We are all caught up in the
struggle between love and hate in our world.
You decide each day if you will love or hate those around you. Do
you care about others? It's like a tug-of-war with a rope. Are you
pulling the rope on the side of love or on the side of hate? Which
will win? You will decide.
Some people treat the symptoms instead of getting at the cause of
the problem. Building more prisons is not the answer. Putting police
on every street corner is not the answer. Buying a gun to protect
yourself is not the answer. The problem is hate. The answer is love.
Love is more powerful than hate.
So how do you pull for the side of love? When you awake each
morning you need to ask yourself: "What can I do for someone else
today?" Post this question on your bathroom mirror, so you will see it
each morning. You need to change your thinking pattern away from
yourself. You need to think of others. It will not be easy to change.
It is not always easy to love others. Many TV programs, movies, and
video games teach you how to hurt and kill. How do you "Love one
another" as the Bible says? Creativity comes into play. God gave you a
brain to think. Forest Gump repeatedly said, "Stupid is as stupid
does." Use the brain that God has given you.
A good deed a day will keep evil away.
Are you thinking about yourself? If you use illegal drugs or
drink too much, you are thinking about yourself. If you go gambling at
the casino or play keno, you are thinking about yourself. If you cheat
on tests in school or steal things, you are thinking about yourself.
If you goof off on your job or cheat on your taxes, you are thinking
about yourself. If you gossip about others and complain about
everything, you are thinking about yourself. If you watch hour after
hour of TV, you are thinking about yourself. You need to think of
others.
Instead of taking drugs or drinking, you could use the money to
buy a gift for someone. Instead of gambling, you could use the time to
visit a lonely person in the hospital or nursing home. Instead of
cheating on tests, you could tutor the students that are having
problems in a subject that you understand well. Instead of goofing off
while you're on the job, you could spend the time helping others on
your team that are having problems. Instead of watching all that TV,
you could write a thank you note to someone that has done something
for you. We waste many hours on ourselves when we could spend the time
helping others. Someone needing your help could be a few doors down
the street. If you are doing what you should be doing, you don't have
time to do the evil things. If you do nothing, all will be lost. All
it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to sit back and do
nothing.
If we would learn to love, there would be fewer depressed people.
The number of homeless people on our streets would decrease. Murders
and suicides would decrease. Our students would be better educated and
have respect for others. If Forest Gump existed, he would come up with
the idea to make T-shirts for people in Generation X that say:
Generation eXcellent. People would not be labeled left or right or
liberal, but would be called friend. Besides adopting a section of a
highway to pick up trash, many would adopt a gang member. As we
approach the year 2000, let us make the world a better place. You can
make a difference.
Someone who thought of others was Jesus. He continues to think
about others today. He spends all his days helping people. I hope and
pray that all of us can follow His example. We need God's help to love
each other. You can read more about Him in the Bible. A good place to
start is the Gospel of Luke. Tune in to Christian TV and radio
stations. Attend church each week, because you can't get to Heaven by
yourself. The Internet has Christian resources at
http://hercules.geology.uiuc.edu/~schimmri/christianity/christian.html.
. If you know Jesus and He has touched your heart, please share that
with others. If you missed the series '7 Days of Life', write for a
copy. If we can help in any way, write to us.
Spring To Life, P.O. Box 991, Omaha, NE 68101-0991 USA
P.S. Congratulations to my parents on their 50th anniversary May 16th!
I'd like to thank those who helped edit this:
Ron and Dola (Omaha, Nebraska USA),
Mary (Newport Beach, California USA), and
Robert (New Zealand via e-mail from the
alt.journalism
newsgroup).
Dan Boeckman's e-mail address:
dboeckm@csealumni.unl.edu
Last changed on December 10, 1995 at 1:00 PM CST (Central Standard Time)