Love and Morality

God is the ultimate Author of nature--this includes the laws of nature in general and human nature in particular, and thus also of the moral law.

The moral law in turn is right relationship, both to one another, to God, and to ourselves: nor are these three relationships unrelated. The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our being, but then we read that "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). So the second great commandment is ultimately an extension of the first: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Note that we must love ourselves in order to do this.

This is the basis for the moral law, but it must be understood that love stands on truth: where truth is absent, love is also a lie. This is why correct belief then becomes important--we are called to love, but that love must be rightly ordered (e.g. loving God above all else, and then loving neighbor as self). Love does not overlook sin, though it does hope to overcome it.