by Rene Dabdoub

Created on: June 20, 2009

Christianity has never been about hate. On the contrary, it has always been about love. The only difference here is that throughout the ages, love has been misinterpreted to mean many different things. Those of us who call ourselves Christians have many viewpoints on the exact same topic. As the saying goes, "each mind is a universe." Love to one person can mean entirely something different to another.

Jesus Christ taught us that the most important thing in this world is love, but we are human beings, and each of us with his or her own interpretation on these teachings. To prove my point, if you look in the dictionary for the meaning of the world "love," you will find 15 or more definitions. These definitions can range from tenderness, passion, predilection, enthusiasm, endearment, affection, to even sexual attraction.

Try this experiment on your own. Ask five people what their definition of love is, and you will usually get a very different answer from each one of them. So, if we ask ourselves "who put the hate into Christianity?" the real question should be who took the love out of Christianity? It is not that there is no love in Christianity, it is just that we Christians have lost view of what love really is.

When I encounter a problem, be it in my family, business, friends, etc., I will always try to find the root of the cause, not just a simple solution to a deeper problem. We must do the same thing here. To simply state that there is much hate in Christianity without looking deeper, is the same as saying that Jesus Christ himself hated, when this could not be farther away from the truth.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (Jn. 13:34) This is the key! Jesus gave us a new commandment, no less important from the others given to us by Moses. The love between humans should not be interpreted as many things, but simply as one: We should love ourselves and our neighbors, as Jesus loved us. What does this mean?

1.-It means that we are made in the likeness of God himself, and that our own bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Pride, wrath, greed, lust, gluttony, sorrow, vanity, should have no part in our lives. We should always focus on prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, charity, and hope.

2.-It means that we should always put ourselves into the shoes of someone else before trying to pass judgment on them.

3.-It means that even though we are defending our faith to anyone for any reason, they are still human beings with the same right to life and prosperity as we are.

4.-It means that it does not matter how much money or possessions you have in this world, but what you do with them to help your fellow man.

I have read many articles which describe Christians picketing abortion clinics, same-sex marriage, or porn shops, and that these people seem to stand more on the side of hate, than on the side of love. I agree to a certain point that some of these people resort to hurtful tactics and loud outbursts when protesting, and some even resort to violence! These people have a wrong understanding at what Jesus taught us. They may be well intentioned, but their way of going about it is wrong. I myself have taken part in many pro-life marches, and many pro-family events, but they have always been "silent" events in which the most important thing is prayer.

If I love my brother, but I do not agree with his beliefs, I will still treat him as my brother, at the same time trying to make my point. As Jesus did, so we must do.

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