Every time I turn around, I hear that someone is having a prayer vigil. Not long ago, we had a clarion call to pray organised by the education and culture minister. More recently we had a one-night prayer service at New Life Baptist Church. Everyone is calling for oneness and unity.
Yes, we are convinced that the territory is heading down the wrong path and the crime rate is at an all-time high. Like the prophet Jeremiah, I wish that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep for the lamentable condition of my territory.
We definitely need a change. However, a change will only come about when our hearts are transformed by the power of love. Our unregenerate hearts can only be altered and modified by the power of Jesus Christ. Our hearts must be warmed by His gentle love, and our lives must exemplify the intangible virtues of life, which are love, peace, longsuffering, and meekness. Only when our hearts are touched by Jesus can we love and have affection for our fellow men.
Love does not discriminate; it suffers long and endures all things. Jesus admonished us to love one another. He said that we must love our neighbours as ourselves. Love is the greatest power. It is a powerful force that cannot be subdued, and it conquers all.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought segregation with love. He preached love and taught black Americans to love those who did them wrong. The Good Book says that love is as strong as death. Love opens one’s eyes and death closes them. Love and death are equal but opposite forces. What our territory needs is love. We need to be taught how to love and get along with each other.
Courage needed
The ability to love is not beyond our grasp, but we need the courage to change. We need to be kinder and gentler to each other. Here in the Virgin Islands we hate each other too much and we fight too much. Such despicable behaviour indicates the emptiness of our spirits. We live too far down in the cesspool of life, but God’s love can reach us.
Too many of us have made our hearts a depository for hate and resentment. The hate and bitterness we harbour in our breasts is destroying us to the core. The heart is the measure of the man. The Bible declared that we must keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of them are the issues of life. We need to drain our hearts of bitterness, envy, anger and jealousy. Many of us are suffering from an unforgiving spirit. We need to learn to forgive and forget.
It is sad but true that many of our leaders are not guided by love. One day I was watching the House of Assembly coverage on television, and one of our representatives sounded like he was very annoyed and angry. He made a marathon speech in which he was throwing words and berating his colleagues. His speech was invective.
Too many of us are poor examples of the love we possess. The lack of love and respect for each other is the root of the problems in our society. Our hearts need to be touched by the power of love. Love gives us hope of a better tomorrow, and it brings light where there is darkness. In the face of opposition, love as a force propels along.
Many people in this society have yet to experience Christ’s redemptive love, which lifts us above the deplorable condition in which we live. With Christ in our hearts, we will learn to tolerate each other, reach out to each other and learn to have an understanding heart.
We must ask God to give us a heart of love and a spirit of unanimity. We desire to live among our brothers and sisters in an amiable and congenial way. Too often we fight and trample each other and turn our workplace into a war zone because our hearts are set in the wrong position.
‘The power of love’
In conclusion, the change we seek in this society will only come about when our hearts are transformed, changed and regenerated by the power of love. The love of Christ must eradicate the malice, detestation, and spite from our sin-sick souls. The desire to kill, steal and rape reflects the degraded and degenerated condition of our hearts.
According to Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” It behooves us to keep our hearts pure and filled with love. Love forgives and forgets. It does not hold a grudge.
We must forgive those who have done us wrong, instead of trying to get even. Our desire is to move to a higher level of living; however, we cannot move up unless we change our attitudes and practise a lifestyle motivated by love. As a people, we must ask God to make a radical transformation in our hearts. Then and only then will we have a kinder and gentler territory.