Contributed By: Sandra Welch
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Minister Sandra Welch is a Minister at the Potter’s House Christian Community in Niagara Falls, NY and a Respite Assistant at Community Missions.

What is love?  The dictionary defines it as:  An intense feeling of deep affection, a great interest and pleasure in something.

If you have ever been to a wedding, you may have heard love described this way:  Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

We must ask ourselves, is this the way that we love?  We may love our children this way, or our spouses, our significant others, or our family members, sometimes.  But what about people in general?  What about people that we don’t even know?  Some of us feel like we don’t have to love those that we have no connection to, or relationship with.

How do we learn how to love one another? 

One way is by accepting others for who they are, and not trying to change them into who you want them to be.  We must learn to love all people regardless of our differences.  We were all created uniquely, no two of us are identical, but we are all people, human beings and inside we all look alike.

The actions and attitudes of love create an atmosphere of kindness, acceptance, and unity in ourselves and in others around us. 

We can show and demonstrate our love by giving to and helping each other. We can show it by helping the poor or helping the sick or the elderly.  We can show it just by giving our time to do something nice for someone else, or even just by talking to them, saying hello—showing them that someone cares. 

We must overcome all the hate that is running rapidly in our country and in the world. I believe the only way to overcome hate is with love.  Let love heal our hearts, the hearts that have been broken or have been rejected.  Let love heal hearts that have been denied and turned away.  Let love heal hearts that have felt lonely and in despair, hearts of those that have never been loved.  Let our love heal and outshine all the hatred in the world.