(Photo Credit: nbcnews.com)

The 49 victims range in age from 18 to 50. Those killed included a barista, an accountant, a recent high school grad and a pharmacy technician. While different in many ways, they all have one thing in common: their lives were cut short in the deadliest mass shooting in the US history.

Social media, TV and radio shows have been filled with comments from celebrities

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Lady Gaga said, “This is an attack on everyone. Tonight I gather humbly with you, as a human being in peace and sincerity, in commitment, in solidarity, to take a real moment and mourn the tragic loss of these innocent, beautiful people.”

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Nick Jonas commented, “My father, a minister from New Jersey , shaped my view that love is love and we are all equal. And that no matter who you are, where you’re from, or where you’re going in your life, you have the right to love and be loved.”

Late night host Jimmy Fallon responded, “Maybe there’s a lesson from all this – a lesson in tolerance. We need to support each other’s differences and worry less about our own opinions. Get back to debate and away from believing or supporting the idea that if someone doesn’t live the way you want them to live, you just buy a gun and kill them.”

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The cause of this kind of violence is a complex issue. There’re no easy solutions. But there is one significant factor that’s at the core of this issue – respect. It’s a quality seriously lacking in today’s society.

So what’s respect?

It means valuing each others points of views, accepting people as they are and being polite and kind to others. It means not dissing people because they’re different than you. It means not gossiping about people or spreading lies. We are a society desperately lacking respect for each other.

We all crave respect no matter who we are. But it’s tough to respect others if you don’t respect yourself. When you come to grips with this idea, you’ll start valuing yourself and others.

Don’t let anyone define you and don’t be what others want you to be.

Remember, we’re all created in the image of God. And we’re all people worth loving and respecting.