“This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower

I began writing an article earlier this week on the topic of respect; however, after the events of Sunday, June 12, my article has taken on a completely new angle and meaning. For those who don’t know, around 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 12, 50 people were killed and 53 people were injured at a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL.

This massacre occurred in the same city, just two days after the YouTube sensation and beloved singer Christina Grimmie was shot and killed at a meet-and-greet with her fans after her show. The people who were killed were just that: they were people.

It is absolutely disgusting and heartbreaking that so many people’s lives have been taken away from them, no matter what the motive might have been from either shooter. In a world that is overcome with darkness, heartache and cruelty, we must all choose to love anyway.

The Lord has never said that you have to agree with everything that everyone else does. The Lord has never said that you have to like what everyone else is doing with his or her life, either. However, you must learn to respect other people’s decisions and love them anyway. It truly says more about the character of the person who cannot learn to agree to disagree and move on with mutual love and respect than it says about the person they disagree with. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with someone, but that is no excuse to not respect or love that person as they are, and it is certainly not an excuse for a hate crime.

The human race is filled with people that have different sexual orientations, different races and different religious beliefs. Love them anyway. So many times, people can be heard saying, “what he or she is doing is wrong,” or “the Bible says that we aren’t supposed to do that.” Does the Bible not also say that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves? Does it not also say, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”? Does the Bible not specifically say in 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins”? It has never been, nor will it ever be, our place to judge someone else on the ways they choose to live their life, the color of their skin or their belief system.

So, to all of the families of those taken from us too soon, we’re going to love you through it. As a community, we must all come together in mutual love and respect to lift up those who are grieving. Even through the most horrendous of acts, we must try to learn to forgive those who have committed the unthinkable. All we are called to do is love everyone, the same way that Christ loves us.