Love. Period.: Loving Those Who Are Not Like You

When we say, “I choose to love. Period.”
we are signaling to the world that a revolution
has taken place in our hearts.
—PASTOR RUDY RASMUS, LOVE. PERIOD.

What would happen if we truly loved those who are different from us in race, background, abilities, gender, economic status, identity, or physical condition? How would our communities change if we stopped being afraid of those who don’t fit our definition of “loveable”? How would our hearts find greater joy if we acknowledged the risk of loving without conditions—and did it anyway?

Love. Period. is hustler-turned-pastor Rudy Rasmus’s call for us to live the most daring way we can. To refuse to follow the hate and apathy of our world. To speak the words that Jesus intended: “I choose to love. Period.” Love—it’s precisely what God calls us to do.

Rudy Rasmus is a pastor, author, and global humanitarian. Along with his wife, Juanita, he leads the nine-thousand-member St. John's United Methodist Church in Houston, one of the most culturally diverse congregations in the country. Pastor Rudy coordinates domestic and global anti-hunger initiatives in conjunction with concert tours by longtime friend and church member Beyoncé Knowles. A former columnist for O Magazine Rudy and Juanita have two daughters.