In today’s world there is much hate and violence going on in the world such as racism and you say it; the past holocaust. In order to stop all of this suffering, the world will have to change from this to love and forgiveness. This easier said than done. In order to make this possible, we need to get down into the roots of these emotions. These emotions were encouraged by the law and morality of a religion called Christianity. You may be thinking that there are Christians out there who do not know forgive and love others. Yes, I know, we all are not perfect. But that does not mean that these people are good examples of what our religion is about. But in order to start all of this change, we need to know how. No, I do not think that dancing or rock and roll can unite the races of the world together. This is one idea I like. We put the Christian influence on others.

The Christian influence is not hard to spread throughout out others. It is spread through acts of forgiveness, love, and thoughtfulness. It will not be easy at first.  In Christianity, we are supposed to forgive those who hurt you. If you do not forgive those who hurt you than the hate will carry on and you will be just as bad as the person who wronged you. One good example of forgiveness was from Mandela back in South Africa. South Africa was on the brink of civil war. Mandela was a leader of the anti-apartheid struggle but was later captured. Mandela was imprisoned in jail for about 27 years, and he was treated with cruelty. When he was released, he learned that revenge and violence did not solve anything but only worsened it. When he rose through democratic power, he sat down and forgave his enemies. His speeches discouraged revenge to solve injustice. In doing so, he saved his country, homeland, and gave the people of Africa hope for the fractured land. Mandela was baptized as a Christian. Jesus says if we forgive others, we will be forgiven. We have done more sins to God than to any individual but God still loves and forgives us. Forgiveness solves problems physically and mentally.

When it comes to love, it should be unconditional like God’s love. I am not talking about sexual love but more of a bro-mantic love for one another.  A good quote to remember is from Martin Luther King Jr.; “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  Take Mother Teresa for example how she used love to save the ignored. She would take care of anyone who she sees suffering on the streets. Whether it would be an abandoned baby to a rotting leper, she would take them under her care. She would take care of herself the least of all. She would sleep on the hard floor so that a sick person could sleep somewhere nice. She would want her patients wearing the best shoes she could find and she would wear the worst. As a result of these remarkable acts of love she made the poor have hope that there will be someone that will come to their aid.  Love should always be unconditional in every way when helping others.  We Christians believe that God so much loved the world, that he gave his only son to save us from our sin. There have been many times when love is rewarding.  Love one another and love shall be returned.

Forgiveness and love can be the solution to our troubles. Forgiveness and love can mend nations together through wars, poverty, and injustice. Christianity has thrived for about 2000 years. Many people have converted to it and even had better lives loving one another instead of relying on prejudice and hate to solve their problems. Who will be the person to start all of this? It can be you. You do not need to have some cross-country long march to solve a problem. You can start out small from forgiving some big jerk at your school, to doing something big. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."