It is no secret that the world as we know it is becoming darker with each day that passes in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement, cop slayings, ISIS, the Orlando massacre and the political race. It seems that these topics are the only things that are in the media today. Being a religious woman myself, I find it easy to ponder how different our world would be if people were more Christ-like. I’m not saying everyone has to be baptized and go to church on Sundays, or even that people should believe in Christ. What I am saying is that the world would be a much different place if people treated each other with kindness and compassion.

In my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some of the Christ-like attributes we are taught are faith, hope, charity, virtue, knowledge, patience, humility and diligence. I am completely aware that most people don’t strive to have these attributes, or may not have them in mind, but imagine how different the world would be if people only had three of these attributes. While all of these things are things that I strive to embody the three that everyone could use regardless of their faith is charity, knowledge and humility.

We have all been asked in the store if we would like to donate our change to some worthwhile organization. Some of us do, some of us do not. But is that the extent that our charity can stretch? I have always thought of charity as being similar to service. In my own experience, the most rewarding form of charity is when you perform an act of service for another person. By serving those in our direct community we can make an impact. It is much harder to hate someone in a community if that community is filled with those who serve one another. An act of service does not have to be a grand gesture; often times it’s the little things that can matter the most to people. In the scriptures it says repeatedly to love thy neighbor. Even if you are not a person with a religious affiliation, what could be so bad about simply loving those that are around you? Considering the negativity that is in the news the world could use more love for one another.

Knowledge is everything. We all have people on our social media accounts who are talking blindly about subjects that they know nothing about. It is important to be educated on what is going on in the world around you. Being educated does not mean watching the news or listening to the beliefs of another person. Being educated means having an open heart and mind and looking at all of the facts. If you are looking at an issue and only looking for things that validate your thinking, then are you really any more educated than you were when you started? If you cannot seem to have an unbiased mind on an issue, then try and look for things that disprove and invalidate your thinking.

There is a difference between seeking for truth and seeking for validation. There is no excuse for people to be uneducated with today’s technology. Education is not limited to school. It does not take a college degree to be able to have an independent opinion. I believe a problem with the world today is that there are not enough leaders that stand up for the truth but instead there are people that are blindly following the lead of others. While not everyone is meant to be a leader, everyone is meant to be an independent, self-thinking member of society.

By definition, humility is a modest or low view of one’s own importance. So many people think the world revolves around them. How different would our world be if people were humbler? All it can take is thinking outside of your own world and realizing that you are not the only one with problems and that your opinion is not the only opinion that matters. Nobody has an “easy” life, everyone struggles with something. Nowadays people are so filled up with pride that even if they might be wrong they would never admit it. There are so many people that take to social media and voice their opinions and what they think is right before even knowing the whole truth.

It might be wishful thinking but the social media world would truly be a different place if people had more charity, knowledge and humility. All it can take to change a community is love towards one another, individuals that function on their own knowledge and people that value and consider the opinions of others.