I figured I’d switch up the vibe of the blog for the day and do something a little more fun. This song by Israel Houghton is a nice, light song that speaks to a simple idea that pretty much covers what I wanna share with the world – “love God, love people, love your neighbor as yourself… everybody, love somebody.” I love this song, and for me, it encompasses some universal truth that most anyone can appreciate.
Israel begins by saying, “how can I thank You for the way that You freely gave love so beautiful, unconditionally?” That’s a grand starting place – acknowledging the unconditional love that God is and gives. But what I appreciate is that Israel doesn’t stop with his own personal reflection on God’s love for him. He acknowledges the fact that his own life is great, but then he says, “but when I look and see all the suffering, I wanna do something, but something’s gotta start with me. I can’t give it till I live it. Now that my eyes are open, teach me how to love.” Though his life is good and infused with the love of God in a transformative way, he recognizes that there are many others who are not as blessed, and so this awareness touches his heart, motivating him to desire to help others, even being humble enough to ask to be taught to love. I think we often assume that love just comes naturally, but the messages of the media and experience tend to warp the love that should inherently flow in all of us.
“And now it’s time to make a change – revolution day. Put it into action, live compassionately.” “Life gets better. It just gets better when we, we look around and see all of humanity waiting on someone. Someone is you and me.” Once you take time with God to receive the Divine love, learning to love God and self, then you have to walk it out, loving people with your actions and words. Show compassion to those you know and those you don’t. Realize that superheroes are the every day, ordinary people who choose to give rather than focusing on their own lives. The world is not waiting for ‘someone.’ The world is waiting for the world to individually come to a realization that we all have a stake and a place in this thing called life, especially if there is change that we all need to see and feel.
“You can’t give it till you live it. You can’t live it till you give it away.” An important point that he makes throughout the song is the fact that, until you receive love and walk in it, it will be fairly impossible for you to give love to anyone else. I can’t give someone $100 if I only have $10 – it’s impossible. So, I advise you to seek the source of love and sit at Love’s feet. It matters not what you call the Divine; what matters is that you receive the love of the One who shaped you and loves you more than you can imagine. When you begin to realize that the depth of that love, you will be able to embrace yourself in a new way, which will give you a different (more compassionate) view of other people.
“You can’t give it till you live it. You can’t live it till you give it away.” An important point that he makes throughout the song is the fact that, until you receive love and walk in it, it will be fairly impossible for you to give love to anyone else. I can’t give someone $100 if I only have $10 – it’s impossible. So, I advise you to seek the source of love and sit at Love’s feet. It matters not what you call the Divine; what matters is that you receive the love of the One who shaped you and loves you more than you can imagine. When you begin to realize that the depth of that love, you will be able to embrace yourself in a new way, which will give you a different (more compassionate) view of other people.
LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
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