Our great nation was built upon the principles of religious freedom for all. Still most Americans count themselves as Christians of some denomination, making today the most important holy day.

Each year the faithful celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter and we reflect on the miracle that has served as the foundation of our faiths.

The religious beliefs and the sacrifices Christ made have served as the moral compass for our individual lives, the majority of our society and much of our world.

The message shared in the Gospel of Luke is one we reprint at this time every year because its meaning remains just as powerful more than 2,000 years later.

 

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared.

And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body.

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; and as they were frightened, and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,

‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.’

And they remembered his words and returning from the tomb they told all this to the 11 and all the rest.”

— Luke 24:1-9, Holy Bible

 

This Easter, and all others that follow it, we hope every American will pause to think about their own faith and how it can guide their lives.

Easter is a day to reflect on the lessons of Jesus Christ, a man who understood better than any that we should love everyone, as we are all brothers and sisters.

His time on earth was dedicated to these principles but our society, as well as the world, may have forgotten some of these lessons.

Jesus Christ taught us humility. The man taught us humanity. He taught us charity. He taught us compassion. And he taught us about the grace of God and the goodness of man.

Regardless of individual faiths or denominational divides built on human interpretations, Christ’s lessons are applicable to all of us.

Let’s use this Easter as the foundation for how we can live by these principles every day to follow.