I love history, and through the years, I have watched numerous documentaries on various subjects. World War II presents us with unimaginable horrors. I think I could sum up Hitler’s justification for the murder of the Jews with this statement. The first step a person takes toward becoming a murderer is to dehumanize their victim by viewing them as less than human. When a killer can convince themselves of this, the unthinkable happens.

In Matthew chapter 22, the Sadducees and the Pharisees seemed to take turns trying to trap Jesus. After silencing the Sadducees in verse 34, a group of Pharisees got together to take their turn. They wanted to know which of the commandments was the greatest. Jesus said, “First, you must love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Then He added, “And you must love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.” I’m sure they didn’t disagree with the first one. Although they didn’t respond, they probably didn’t like the second one. The story of the Good Samaritan proves that.

Loving others must begin when we are young. In fact, babies and toddlers don’t have to be taught to love; they just love. It doesn’t matter what color someone’s skin is or how much money they have; they just love. Babies and toddlers must be taught to hate. Loving people begins when we learn to honor our parents, love our siblings and other family members, our friends, our neighbors, our teachers, and all who are in authority over us. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:43-48 to love even our enemies and to pray for people who mistreat us. I’m seeing a lot of hate from people who profess to be Christians. That ought not be.

Treating others as we would like to be treated guards us from viewing and treating others as less than human. All of us are created in the image of God. Red and yellow, black and white, we are all precious in God’s sight.