So, moment of transparency, dear friends. I’ve been emotionally exhausted with the state of the world lately, and truthfully, have not had the emotional or mental energy to devote to writing a blog post. For today, I’m going to merely leave you with the lyrics of my go-to song when I need hope that at some point in the future, we will all be able to put aside our differences and realize that every human being on the planet is loved and adored by God. We are ALL His beloved children and He sent Jesus as a sacrifice for every single person. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, brown, or something else. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female. It doesn’t matter if you are from the Americas, Africa, Europe, Australia, Asia, or the moon. And it certainly doesn’t matter if you are married or single!

God loves us all, and He expects us all to love each other in return. Romans 13:8-10 states “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

So, here I leave you with the lyrics of “Bleed the Same” by Mandisa. May you find hope in the beauty of God’s grace and I pray that we will all go out and be a light to drive out the darkness in the world!

“We all bleed the same
We’re more beautiful when we come together
We all bleed the same
So tell me why, tell me why
We’re divided

Woke up today
Another headline
Another innocent life is taken
In the name of hatred
So hard to take (hey!)
And if we think that it’s all good
Then we’re mistaken
‘Cause my heart is breaking (tell it, ‘Dis)

Are you left?
Are you right?
Pointing fingers, taking sides
When are we gonna realize?

We all bleed the same
We’re more beautiful when we come together
We all bleed the same
So tell me why, tell me why
We’re divided
If we’re gonna fight
Let’s fight for each other
If we’re gonna shout
Let love be the cry
We all bleed the same
So tell me why, tell me why
We’re divided

Tell me, who are we
To judge someone
By the kind of clothes they’re wearing
Or the color of their skin?
Are you black? (black)
Are you white? (white)
Aren’t we all the same inside? (the same inside)
Father, open our eyes to see!

We all bleed the same (we all bleed the same)
We’re more beautiful when we come together
We all bleed the same (we all bleed the same)
So tell me why, tell me why
We’re divided
If we’re gonna fight
Let’s fight for each other (fight for each other!)
If we’re gonna shout
Let love be the cry (be the cry!)
We all bleed the same (we all bleed the same)
So tell me why, tell me why
We’re divided

Only love can drive out all the darkness
What are we fighting for?
We were made to carry one another
We were made for more, said

Only love can drive out all the darkness
What are we fighting for? yeah
We were made to carry one another
We were made for more!

We all bleed the same (we all bleed the same)
We’re more beautiful when we come together (let’s stand united!)
We all bleed the same (we all bleed the same)
So tell me why, tell me why
We’re divided
If we’re gonna fight
Let’s fight for each other (fight for each other!)
If we’re gonna shout
Let love be the cry (be the cry!)
We all bleed the same(we all bleed the same) (bleed the same)
Let’s stand united (let’s stand united)
Let’s stand united!

So Father God, I pray
That our families will come together right now
And seek Your face
You will forgive our sins
And You will heal our incredible land
In the name of the only Savior, Jesus Christ
Amen.”
Songwriters: Chris Stevens / Mandisa Hundley / Bryan Fowler / Toby McKeehan
Bleed The Same (Intro) lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group