5 Ways to Love Like Jesus on Memorial Day

For years, my maternal grandmother shopped at a general store in early May to purchase colorful plastic floral wreaths. She would carefully package the wreaths and mail them back home to a small hillside cemetery that surrounded a white clapboard Methodist church in Cumberland, Maryland. Once received, the caretaker would place the wreaths on the gravesites of her family members who served in the military, including a son who served in World War II. This is how she commemorated Decoration Day.  

Decoration Day originated after the Civil War to honor its fallen veterans. Ohio Congressman and Civil War Union Major General James Garfield (who later became the 20th president of the United States) gave a poignant speech at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868. To ensure that flowers across the country would be in bloom to decorate the graves, Decoration Day was officially held on May 30.  In 1971, Decoration Day, at that point known as Memorial Day, was declared a national holiday with its observance designated on the last Monday of May.

Today, Memorial Day is still heralded with parades, speeches, and dedications to honor those who gave their lives for our American freedoms and for coming to the aid of the oppressed abroad. Veterans gather at American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts. Citizens line hometown sidewalks for annual parades to pay homage to the over one million fallen soldiers counted since the Revolutionary War.  

While Memorial Day is not a Christian holiday per say, Christians can participate by honoring the virtues of love, courage, and sacrifice shown by the men and women who faithfully served our country. Here are five ways Christians can demonstrate the love of Jesus on this national holiday:

1. Carry on Traditions 

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
– Romans 12:10 

Place flowers and small flags on the graves of those who served. Decorating gravesites can be an encouragement to surviving family members, and is a way of showing appreciation for the sacrificial service of others.  

My father witnessed the atrocities of war at Normandy and at concentration camps. When he passed away at the age of 90, the honor guard presented me with the folded American flag at his graveside funeral. I love seeing the flags that line the roads throughout the cemetery where my parents are buried to commemorate the veterans that lie there. This tradition also reminds surviving veterans that their service will never be forgotten.

2. Connect With Local Posts

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…
– 1 Peter 4:10 

Reach out to local American Legion or VFW posts and ask how you might be able to serve veterans or support annual Memorial Day observances. Consider providing a post-parade meal or making a financial contribution to support the efforts of that post. 

3. Celebrate Local Veterans 

Cheer as local veterans march down your town’s main street in honor of their fellow fallen soldiers. I remember marching with my high school band through the streets of my rural hometown in Ohio for the annual Memorial Day parade. It was an honor to play the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “God Bless America.” My mom and dad would attend and wave. 

4. Support Grieving Families

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
–  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

Reach out to people who have lost loved ones in the armed forces. Though years may have passed, families still feel loss and grief. Accompany them to their loved one’s gravesite or invite them over for a cookout. Sit with them and look at pictures. I treasure the tarnished black tin that still holds my father’s dog tags and keepsakes from his time in France, Germany, and Italy during The Second Great War.

5. Remember the Fallen 

Spend time in prayer during the National Moment of Remembrance, a one-minute period of silence at 3 PM local time on Memorial Day. Give thanks to God for the men and women who served and died for our country, allowing you to experience America’s freedoms.  

Honoring fallen veterans is a testimony of God’s love. Because of their heroics, we are free to worship as we please. Because of their sacrifice, we are free to continue God’s mission of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with people throughout the world. 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on. (Stanza 4) 

Battle Hymn of the Republic
Written by Julia Ward Howe