On Tuesday afternoon I was walking out of the eye doctor’s office with my sons much needed contact lenses in hand when I read this bumper sticker that said, “Religion is the root of hate.” I doubled back to read it again. I almost took a photo, but the gentleman was sitting in his car, windows rolled up, on his phone. I thought to myself, of all the things to put on a bumper sticker, surely, we as human beings could do better than that. Then I thought to myself, I wonder what kind of hurt this person has experienced to have made him put this bumper sticker on his car. And then as I drove home, I prayed for him.

Friends, humans will fail you. They will let you down. They will disappoint you. I know someone who never will. His name is Jesus and He is loving, faithful, and wonderful. He is graceful and merciful. Slow to anger and abounding in love. Psalm 103:8. Hurt is real as we walk this earth. Look around you. There is no denying that. Whether you follow Jesus or not, life is hard. BUT I can tell you from personal experience that some of the hardest things I ever endured happened after I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior and I can’t imagine going through any of those hard things without him. He has been my peace, my strength, my rock, my comforter, my light in the darkness.

If you are a person who thinks religion is the root of hate I have two questions for you.

1- Do you know Jesus?

2- What do you put your hope in?

Following Jesus is not about religion, it is about relationship. In this messy and broken world, there is no one better than Jesus to put all of your hope and trust in. Jesus is love.