"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." - 1 John 4:7
"And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother."-
1 John 4:21
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."- Matthew 5:16
"And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all."- 1 Thessalonians 5:14
The verses mentioned above may have come from different books in the Bible but they show us only one thing, and that is to love one another.
The love of our brothers or what we called Agape is the kind of love that Jesus wants us to show and express. To love is the greatest commandment of our Lord. And thus, it is very important for us to obey it because it is the very root of all the good things in our world. Without love, there will also be no harmony and happiness. Without love there will be sadness and chaos. So for us to live a harmonious life, we also have to live in love.
The problem with some of us is that we only love those people who are close to us. But how about those poor people in the dark streets of the urban areas? How about those people who are living in the desperate areas? Don't they have the rights to our love?
You see, God created us and entrusted us the task to take care of one another and to love one another. But how come there are millions of people who are being neglected and desperately seeking for love?
I believe that for us to solve our problems in poverty and human rights abuses, we simply have to awaken our inner soul and let ourselves rekindle the love for our brothers. There are a lot of ways to show them our care, even the simplest way will do as long as we are doing it from our heart.
Let's start with the rich people. And I mean ALL the wealthy people. Why, they have lots of money so they have the perfect ability to help the needy. How?! There are millions of ways! Why don't they start by organizing a charity and giving money and food donations? Of course they can't just give and give forever. We don't want those poor to be a parasite right? So maybe, they can give them jobs or maybe teach them entrepreneurship? They can also start a non-profit organization about health, education, values and human rights. See?
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I know that there are already organizations and charities about poverty and the like but then only few participates. And only few were aided. Why don't rich people set aside their own welfare and think of others first? Hear them out! Why don't they give the beggars food, clothes and shelter instead of driving them away? If only ALL of them will not just love their luxurious houses, cars and clothes but also their crying and dying brothers in the streets.
Now for the middle class and the so-so poor people, they may not be financially well-off but it doesn't mean that they can't help others. How? Well, by simply assisting others to do their jobs and encouraging them to find hope and strength in everything they do will definitely do. It doesn't have to involve money and be complicated. Just a word of encouragement and enlightenment will certainly make a difference. Average people can also participate in organizations and charities by assisting the organizers. They can prepare food, help to pack things and gather and manage the participants. Also, instead of leaving the left overs in a fast- food restaurant, they can give them (of course only those edible ones) to the street children. And they can also give those street people old clothes and other old usable things.
See? There are plenty of ways to help and show love. We may not be able to help them financially but physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, we can help and support each other.
And the last is the VERY poor people. And when I say VERY, they are the ones who can barely eat three times a day; they are the ones who don't have a good shelter and clothing- the real unfortunate people.
Of course they can also help by encouraging others too. They can also strengthen the soul of their fellowmen. They can help the rich and the average people by simply participating in whatever they do. Poor people must appreciate the help they are receiving and they, themselves, must also do their best to uplift their lives. (but of course in a good way!)
Like what I've said earlier helping and loving others doesn't always involve money. It can also be in a form of giving joy and encouraging the fainthearted. We don't have to have lots of money to love others. By hearing each others out, understanding and helping each other, we can already express our love.
Our world is socially divided. And we have to change it by expressing brotherly love to each and everyone. Brotherhood, happiness, trust, harmony, peace and everything good in the world comes up with love. If we give joy to others, we also give joy to our God. And if we love our fellowmen, we also love our God.
1 Juan 3:18
"Mga munting anak, huwag tayong umibig sa salita, ni sa dila, kundi sa gawa at katotohanan."