Live in God’s love this MLK Day

Jan. 16 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has provided us with many instructive and memorable quotes. One of my favorites is: “Hate is just as injurious to the hater as it is to the hated. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Many of our inner conflicts are rooted in hate. This is why psychiatrists say, ‘Love or perish.’ Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

So many evils in our world are based in hate. A person hates another person and kills that person, and in the process ruins their own life. A person hates another person who has something that they don’t have, and so they assault that person and take what they want, not looking ahead to the consequences of such action. A person so hates their own life, that they destroy the lives of others and then take their own life. Hate is a great demolisher of lives and societies.

Into a world filled with hate, Jesus proclaims a message of love. Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself. Love your enemies. It is this all-encompassing love that allows hurts to be healed and forgiveness to be given and received. It is love that brings wholeness to what is broken. It is love that enables us to do what is right and good not only for ourselves and our families, but for all. On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, live in God’s love, and armed with this love, go out and be a blessing in the life of someone else. Love. Don’t hate.

“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you.” Luke 6:27

The Rev. Karen Dumey is the pastor of Hunter Memorial First Presbyterian Church in Sikeston.