One of the things I appreciate about Martin Luther King Jr. Day is seeing his words and the lessons they teach being spread and celebrated in so many spaces. Here’s one I saw several times:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King was a preacher, so it shouldn’t surprise us that his inspiration came from the Bible.

During a Bible study last week, I was reading some scriptures about the way people who bring light to the world do things:

• By being an agent of light, you help others to see.
• You bring light when you teach others to do things in a better way.
• You bring light when you are a role model.
• You bring light when you help others see they are capable of more than they think they can do.
• You bring light when you offer a hand to help those who need it.
• You bring light when you take the time to pay attention well enough to see how you can make the present situation better.

I think that loving, as Dr. King described it, is spreading light on steroids.

The love that King was describing is “unconditional.” It’s loving just because. It’s caring when others might not. It’s helping when others would pass on by.

Imagine how things would change if more people were light in the darkness. If more people would combat hate with love.