10 Valuable Life Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.
Published October 17, 2022 | 5 min read
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and was driven by it.
He was a hero who lived and sacrificed the same for a cause he believed strongly in.
Several decades after his passing, his legacy inspires the world to dream.
He is an inspiration because:
- he believed in peace even when faced with violence
- of his resiliency and courage
- of his self-control, wisdom, and persistence
We can learn many powerful lessons from the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Powerful Life Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr.
1. Dare To Dream
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and he declared his dream to the world.
He believed in his dream and passionately worked on it to bring it to reality, even though he did not live long enough to witness the full realization of it.
He showed the world to dream big when he declared:
“I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” – MLK
Even though the dream was not realized in his lifetime, it was realized in ours.
No matter where you are on the journey, believe in your dreams.
Your dreams are valid, no matter how big they are.
Believe in yourself, believe in your dreams, and work hard to make those dreams come true.
You can do it, so go for it!
2. Love People
Martin Luther King Jr. believed in the power of love.
He taught people around him to love.
Love wins always.
He believed that hating people is stooping low and no one should ever fall prey to hate.
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” – MLK
When you return hate for hate, no one wins.
3. Persevere
They incarcerated him on different occasions, which never deterred him from fighting for human rights.
He showed that the fact that you are going through a difficult time does not signal a great time to quit.
Never quit. Just keep moving forward.
“If you can’t fly then run if you can’t run then walk if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – MLK
4. Invest In Yourself
He believed in empowering the human mind through education.
He described ignorance as a dangerous thing.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – MLK
While he encouraged education, he also believed the lack of education is not an excuse not to serve.
5. Serve People
If anyone ever exemplified a life of service, Martin Luther King Jr. did.
He believes serving others is the epitome of greatness:
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – MLK
6. Forgive
Be quick to forgive.
Never allow hatred to develop in your heart for anyone.
Preventing hatred starts by learning to forgive quickly.
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.” – MLK
7. Stand Up For Justice
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – MLK.
His stance for justice was obvious.
He discouraged keeping quiet in the face of injustice and standing up for what is right.
8. Have Faith
Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of great faith who delighted in doing God’s will.
“I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.”- MLK
Throughout his life, his faith in God was obvious in his thoughts, actions, and speech
9. Step out of Your Comfort Zone
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – MLK
Successfully pursuing the dream in your heart may involve stepping out of your comfort zone.
10. All Things Are Possible
MLK inspired greatness in people.
He showed us that the human spirit has so much power to accomplish whatever we set our hearts to do.
For him, “impossible” was not an acceptable word.
He dreamed of a future where segregation would be history and everyone would be treated equally regardless of skin color.
He was not only a genuine leader; he was a great leader.
He did not search for consensus but molded consensus.
Martin Luther King Jr. changed the course of the human race.
In the comment section below, tell us which life lesson from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. resonated most with you.
If you felt inspired by this article, please share it with your friends on social media.
Latrise Renee Boyd
January 16, 2023 at 2:34 AM
I was highly inspired by this Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy speech and big dream. To also remodel his characteristics and also become a great black woman leader of our time.! To be bold courageous and different on my approach to being a small business Renaissance builder of different companies in a large way that spiritual captures and grows to peak large amounts of investment, involvement on a huge business platt. With the most powerful black business owners to jump onboard to set up greater social marketing, gigantic global span of worldwide business owners to provide sponsorship, crowd funding, investment bankers and the #1 black Bank united One banking to help with many donations to help alicate this years goal of mines. To bring about change, self care, holistical healing oils, beauty care products, cleaning solutions, advocating abilities for our over populated black poor communities, home owners, handy- woman’s services, with a long list of behavioral, mental health, speakers, specialist, arts, health, and a plethora of personal and businesses products that produces good will, peace on your financing, and spiritual health. To create a powerful tool of good and ethical development in businesses around the world and worldwide. This is my dedicated passionate right as a Multipotentiallite artist. I believe in my skills and self to Manifest my God given abilities to the world of believers. That is my dream for my children and my legacy I will leave behind in this old 🌎 world! This article was so powerful approach to reminds us of an Iconic and powerful King, that delivered kindness, Self-Service, Leadership, Woaring belief and Crazy Faith that Manifested a ļarge leak into reality to unlock the greatest potential any of us can tap into life’s givingness to unleashing great loads of dreamers to unleash more opportunities for national wealth. I am to also a spiritual person and I believe in setting limits on myself, from fear of failures and disbelief of thinking I won’t make it, but I know with God… Those limits! Can be broken and we can unleash to be powerful beyond measure from Martin Luther king’s dream. I never stop having faith and believing in my will and my power that God has given me to be inspirational to be a living witness to his dream and mines.
Martin Luther king’s dream helped a lot of our culture be as strong as we are and be as smart and knowledgeable about the limits we set on ourselves I believe that God has brought us this far through Martin Luther king’s dream to leave awesome different legacies that create opportunities for our children of the next generation and from Martin Luther king’s dream and hard work of activism we too are modeling those behaviors and are equal Justice that we pursue equal rights and our prayer and lives and churches will be greater. I believe that all of the dreams he made he did accomplish! And Yes. Martin didn’t get to see them through Fruition, but they did come to pass. I agree with this article and love it ! I definitely will share it it was very powerful thank you for sharing.
Danielle Dahl, Managing Editor
January 16, 2023 at 12:31 PM
We are glad you enjoyed the article, and thanks for sharing! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is such an inspirational and meaningful historical figure with quite the legacy!
Theresa Stadshaug
January 13, 2023 at 7:39 PM
Do not hate others & learn to forgive.
Danielle Dahl, Managing Editor
January 16, 2023 at 12:35 PM
Such a great lesson we should all remember! Thanks for commenting,
Betty J Billups
January 13, 2023 at 5:22 PM
True “Power” is SIMPLE and based on LOVE.
We are on this earth, to help one another!
What I have learned: “All things that happen are good, because they bring you to where you are supposed to be.” t.todd
Danielle Dahl, Managing Editor
January 16, 2023 at 12:42 PM
These are great lessons we can all benefit from! Thank you for commenting.
james
October 30, 2019 at 10:56 PM
all of this was the truth of his words