Though things have calmed down, the world still seems to be in a state of heightened defensiveness. The battle of beliefs seems to be never-ending with everyone ready to fight for their side, warmly welcoming hostility, even feeding off of it.

How can one love their enemies at a time like this? How do I practice integrity behind closed doors, in my mind, in my spirit, in my afternoon thoughts? Behind a screen with a concealed identity with no rules and no repercussions.

How do I protect myself from the haunting hatred with Biblical principles? Is love enough? Somewhere along the line, the idea of love changed drastically. Love became known as a weak man’s behavior. Walking away became perceived as surrender. Giving became obsolete and bragging became its replacement.

Is love still valid?

The answer is yes. Hatred is derived from a few different sources. One of the first is fear. Instead of taking up bravery, humans feel the need to destroy what makes them afraid. They say love makes us do crazy things, but what about fear? How does it manifest?

The beating of ideas and concepts that put what’s normal to us in jeopardy is sometimes satisfying, but what is truly gained? Is your normal really that great? What is lost when we destroy fears that are sometimes irrational? We may never know.

Another source of hatred is ignorance, the mother of fear. Now that I think about it, are ignorance and fear the same? In some cases maybe, but in others, maybe not. I’ll let you decide.

So if hatred is fear and ignorance? What is love? 

Love is courage and understanding. Love is bravery. The courage to embrace a change, that can lead to danger. Love is strong, the audacity to do what not many others are.

As a Christian, in order to love, especially in the 20’s, I have to trust that God is who He says He is. It’s called faith for a reason. Like Jesus, we will oftentimes have to do what’s never been done, and trust that Our Father is watching over us as we venture into the emotionally unknown.

Let’s be brave. Let’s love.