Devotional by Diana Golden

The Beatles sang “All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love. Love is all you need”. I recently read that the Beatles created this song in 1967 as an international message of love, that could be easily understood by people of different nations. These words are as true, and as needed today as anytime in history.

When we have hate in our hearts, we seek to cause drama and pain. We hate those that are different from us. I thought about how people post hateful, vile messages on social media against others who don’t agree with their viewpoints. People sow the seeds of strife with words, and stir up conflict. These seeds grow into racial injustices, political biases, misogyny, discrimination, etc. On an individual level, hate causes depression, psychological distress, anxiety, fear, anger, and hopelessness. Love is the only thing that can conquer hate. Love protects, love nourishes, love never strives to uncover the weakness in others. Through love, we build ourselves and others up, becoming stronger as individuals and as a society.

Thoughts of love lead me to Mark 12: 28-31, which states “One of the teachers of the law came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?” Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: Listen people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second command is this: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. There are no commands more important than these.”

And John 13:34-35 reminds us to “Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know you are my followers if you love each other.”

Prayer:
Lord, there is no greater love than the love you have for us. You accept all of us as your children. Please help me to strive to be more like you in sowing the seeds of love instead of spreading hate. Teach me to love you more, and through that love, to love others more. May you lead me to love and protect those who need protecting.
In your name,
Amen

– Diana Golden