I Need to Do My Part in Love
January 15th is the birthday of the civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is well known that King fought for the civil rights of all Americans, focusing on the injustice being done to Black Americans. However, there is one aspect in his fight that may not be as well known. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s had forces that were NOT of God. King knew it, and he stood against evil while standing up for what was right.
Rev. King wrote,
I stand in the middle of two opposing forces... One is a force of complacency [doing nothing about the civil rights problems]....the other force is one of bitterness and hatred...expressed in [destructive violence by]...Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement.... I have tried to stand between these two forces...for there is the more excellent way of love. (Brackets added for clarity)
King was pointing to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians speaking of the more excellent way of love. The point is this: You and I must do our part for what is right; but we must do it in the righteous way of God’s love.