All You Need is Love

Much of the content on my blog speaks of how evangelical Christian doctrines differ from Roman Catholic doctrines. But in broader ethical principles, there’s little difference. So, the principles that I live by now are very much shaped by my Roman Catholic upbringing. And I would think that most people in the world that aim to live good lives agree with these, though they might differ on some specifics.

Sometimes Christians are a bit skeptical or cynical about “love” outside the Christian context, but surely, we should welcome it wherever it comes from. I think of the story of the good Samaritan. The Samaritans were viewed as religious heretics and ethnically impure by the Jews, but it was a Samaritan who showed love and compassion to the man who had been robbed and beaten. I think of many wonderful people that I’ve known in my life who might not have been Christians, but who put me to shame.

Matt 22:37-40
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Here, Jesus was referring to the Old Testament. The pharisees tended to focus too much on their own rules and regulations, but Jesus urged them to think of broader principles. And another commonly quoted verse says what most right-thinking people believe, whatever their religion.

Matt 7:12
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

I’ve often listened to online debates between atheists and Christians on morality. Do you need the Bible to know the difference between right and wrong? Well, God has given us consciences, so you can broadly know the difference, even if you’ve never been exposed to the Scriptures. The Scriptures help you to know about specifics. But even people who know the Scriptures intimately might differ on specific issues and about which course to take when specific challenges arise. Sometimes, you might get little Christian booklets that give you verses to address issues such as anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, financial difficulties and so on. These might be helpful, but it’s foolish to think that a single verse will be the solution in all cases.

I asked Microsoft Copilot about examples of principles, just to see if they align with my outlook. Here’s what it told me. I was impressed.

List 10 common principles that people live by:

• Integrity – Be honest and uphold strong moral values, even when no one is watching.
• Respect – Treat others with dignity, regardless of differences in opinion, background, or status.
• Responsibility – Own your actions and their consequences, both personally and socially.
• Compassion – Show kindness and empathy toward others, especially in times of need.
• Perseverance – Keep going through challenges and setbacks with determination and grit.
• Humility – Recognize your limitations and stay grounded, no matter your achievements.
• Gratitude – Appreciate what you have and express thanks regularly.
• Fairness – Strive for justice and equality in your decisions and treatment of others.
• Growth – Commit to lifelong learning and personal development.
• Service – Contribute to the well-being of others and your community.

For me, these go a long way towards showing me how to love others. What about loving God? Well, some people point out that we demonstrate our love for God by loving others. But the Bible also emphasizes our direct relationship with God. I would think that most religions teach that we fall short and that we are dependent on God’s mercy. Christians believe that God sent his Son into the world to save us and that repentance and faith in Jesus is the way to God. He paid the price for our sins, and we repent and trust in him and live for him.

Just as a little challenge, I wondered how these 10 points that Copilot provided might relate to my relationship with Jesus. Here’s what I think:

• Integrity – In Matthew 6, Jesus encourages his disciples not to parade their spirituality to impress others, but to serve God privately. I don’t think that he meant that we should never pray or donate publicly because doing so can encourage others. But we should be genuinely godly and not just doing so to raise our status in our community.
• Respect – The parable of the good Samaritan and Jesus’s contact with those who were ostracized by others is a good example of this.
• Responsibility – When Peter denied Jesus, he repented, returned and was reinstated. He then played a vital role in the early church. By contrast, Judas, who betrayed Jesus, regretted what he did, but didn’t show true repentence, and he ended up in despair and took his own life. But, there’s always a way back to God if we own our actions and repent.
• Compassion – There are numerous examples of Jesus showing compassion in the gospels. The greatest of all is the cross itself. And the early disciples followed his example and urged each other to do so:
  Colossians 3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
• Perseverance – Again, the New Testament constantly encourages perseverance:
  Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
• Humility – Numerous verses encourage us to be humble. An example is:
  Philippians 2:3–4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
• Gratitude – We thank God, but we also thank each other. In the following verse, the Apostle Paul does both. In thanking God for the Corinthians, he is also indirectly expressing how much he appreciates them:
  1 Corinthians 1:4 “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.”
• Fairness – There’s an interesting piece of advice by Jesus given on this in Matthew 18.
  Matthew 18:15–17 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along… If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church…”
  You might have thought that he’d just say forgive them or “turn the other cheek”. He does say that elsewhere, and sometimes that can be the best solution. But here he presents something a little more complex. It’s a little reminder that we shouldn’t just quote a single Bible verse and tell people to apply it. Some issue might be a little but more complex. I think that when Jesus mentioned “turning the other cheek”, he might have been thinking of people who tended to be full of anger and resentment. You can see how wars are often caused by people who are hateful and always wanting vengeance. But you could “turn the other cheek” and have a desire to forgive, but still seek a just solution. So, for example, in the Northern Ireland conflict, peace came about through a complex process, but that process probably would have failed if people were full of bitterness and the desire for vengeance.
• Growth – The need to grow is mentioned throughout the New Testament. For example:
  Ephesians 4:15 “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
• Service – A memorable incident is when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet to encourage them to serve one another. But the supreme example is the cross itself:
  Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I like to close with hymns or songs. Here are two Bob Dylan songs, one about his love for God and the other about love for others:

And here are two hymns about love: