What Does Love for All Humanity Mean?

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Hello everyone,

On a different thread titled “Is Religious Freedom a Bad Thing?” I had asked a question that went unanswered so I decided to start a new thread to see if anyone could help me understand this better. My question was: How did the Word of God, Jesus Christ, teach us about charity through His words and actions?

I looked up the word Charity and found it to be the following:
  1. benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity; 2) generosity and helpfulness esp. toward the needy or suffering; also; aid given to those in need; 3) public provisions for the relief of the needy. 4) a gift for public benevolent purposes; 5) lenient judgment of others.
So understanding the definition of “charity” leads me to my next question:

WHAT IS LOVE OF HUMANITY and how did Jesus Christ teach us about God‘s love of humanity through His words or actions?

It is my understanding that the way Jesus Christ taught us to love one another is by the example He set for us through His actions and Words. My understanding is that He has UNCONDITIONAL and ALL encompassing Love for ALL Humanity. No matter how much HUMANITY chooses sin and tries to justify itself about it He still loves us UNCONDITIONALY. It is my understanding that we are taught to imitate HIM. How do we do this? By following HIS example, following in HIS footsteps and by choosing the same path that HE chose even if it means DEATH!
Pure and simple.

After reading several posts on the thread “Is religious Freedom a Bad Thing?” it made me start to think that maybe I had missed something. Granted my knowledge and education is limited but I really do believe that we are suppose to base our words and actions on the example of Whom we profess to follow for our salvation.

If I have missed something or if anyone has a deeper understanding of what I have stated please share your thoughts to help me to understand God’s Love of Humanity better.

Always praying and pondering
 
Frankly I see no problem with your understanding.
God does Love us unconditionally.

When Jesus Taught about the two great commandments he was asked “Who is my neighbor” - This led to the “Good Samaritan” parable where it is a complete stranger who is the “neighbor” to the injured man.
Jesus further emphisizes this when talking about doing to the “least of our bretheren”, and also praying for those who spitefully use you.

The Bottom line is that we are to desire the highest good for others which is to see them in heaven before the throne of God.

Peace
James
 
Interesting question. I think one key is the definition that Charity is *“lenient judgment of others” *truly applies to who Jesus was and what he expects from us. You are right that God is ready to forgive us over and over again and to embrace us no matter how many times we fail. That is evident throughout the Gospel where Jesus seeks out the sinner, the marginalized and the outcast, and those people seek Him. They felt His holiness before many of the Godly people did.

In Luke 15 Jesus says: "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance."

In His unconditional love for us, Jesus expects us in turn to do the same.

Another definition you list is: “benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity.” Jesus put the same idea this way, in Matthew 5:

"But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father."

If we wish to emulate Jesus, if we desire to be true children of God, which as you say we should be trying to do, then we must love (and be charitable) to all humanity.

Rather than exalt ourselves as being better than or above others (because we are Christian and they are ???; we are right and they are wrong; we are saved and they are doomed, etc), we must humble ourselves. Mother Teresa’s way to heaven was to minister to the poorest, dirtiest, sickest people in the streets of Calcutta. Why? Because Jesus told her to do so. She did not admonish them for their sins, nor try to convert them to Catholicism, nor ask anything of them. She was Christ to them, no matter who or what they were.

As Jesus did, as He taught us, and as He commanded.

That is what “Love for all Humanity” means to me.
 
OK, so now that I believe I understand what God’s Love for All Humanity is and what our love for all humanity should be I can now ask my next question…

Why is it that after 2000 years or so we still do not seem to get it. I understand that we are a fallen and sinful people and that it is impossible for us to achieve this perfectly. I know that God knows this, that is why He came and dwelt among us and achieved it for us. But, this is not an excuse for us to not do our part. We are taught to follow in Jesus Christ’s footsteps. If we do happen to achieve any part of God’s perfection it is only through Him that we achieve it.

I believe the Church understands God’s Unconditional Love for All Humanity. She understands that because of our fallen nature God allows “certain evils” to exist. I believe She tries to have the same kind of unconditional love for All Humanity that God showed us. In doing this She is just trying to follow more purely in the teachings of the One who is the Cornerstone of Her structure. She is just trying to have the kind of love and compassion that God showed He has for us. Why can we not help Her in Her efforts by showing all of humanity this kind of love? I believe that whining about having to “TOLERATE” something like religious freedom does not help the Church in Her efforts at all. I believe that it actually shows how unwilling we are to make the effort of doing our part to help Her. If this means one has to have more love and trust in Jesus Christ and His example and how He taught us to treat each other with more patience, more compassion, more humility, more charity, and more love with those who do not understand His teachings of His Church’s Truths, then SO BE IT! By sharing in the Church’s virtues, it allows us the opportunity to share in the Mystical Body of Christ more deeply and fully by allowing us to practice all Her Virtues more purely with everyone else, whether we agree with them or not. We too are called to have unconditional love for All Humanity.

Please add your thoughts to this so that I can understand this better,

Always praying and pondering
 
simple_soul said:
OK, so now that I believe I understand what God’s Love for All Humanity is and what our love for all humanity should be I can now ask my next question…

Why is it that after 2000 years or so we still do not seem to get it? I understand that we are a fallen and sinful people and that it is impossible for us to achieve this perfectly. I know that God knows this, that is why He came and dwelt among us and achieved it for us. But, this is not an excuse for us to not do our part. We are taught to follow in Jesus Christ’s footsteps. If we do happen to achieve any part of God’s perfection it is only through Him that we achieve it.
Click to expand...
Actually I have been giving this some thought of late and another question that comes to mind mind is Why there is so much emphasis on the “Ten Commandments” and very little attention paid to the “Greatest Commandments” (Mt 22: 34-40)?

To answer your question which I highlighted above, I think it has to do with our inability to “get out of the Old Testamant” so to speak. Instead of seeking to become a “New Creature” and live by the “Law of Love”, we prefer to live under “commandments”.
One need only look at the number of threads here that begin with some variation of, “Is This a Sin…”, to see what I mean.

Now - If we live the Law of Love to the best of our ability, and seek always to improve and making God ever more central in our lives, we will move closer to that perfection we seek.

The greatest problem with the world in achieving the perfection of God is when the imperfection of one person meets the imperfection of another person.

Example: A person becomes angry with me (their imperfection). If I hold my temper, and react to them in Love and forgiveness (perfection) most often the matter is settled quickly. If, however, I react with anger (my imperfection) the matter escalates and it becomes ever more difficult to calm down and forgive. Too many things get said in the “heat of imperfection” which build up and strengthen the sin of anger when a early example of Love will diffuse the imperfection and strengthen the Bond of Love between the two individuals.

There is an old rhyme about how a battle was lost for "The Want Of a Nail.
The same can be said for Charity.
Perhaps the entire war could have been avoided by the single tiniest act of Love early on.

For those not familiar with the Rhyme I referenced. Here it is:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Just some thoughts.
Peace
James
 
Thank you all for your posts. It’s been a difficult morning for me and I needed to read this thread. God bless all of you.

*34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: *
  • 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " '*Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'a] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’(“http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 22:34-40#fen-NIV-23910b”)] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
 
JRKH said:
Actually I have been giving this some thought of late and another question that comes to mind mind is Why there is so much emphasis on the “Ten Commandments” and very little attention paid to the “Greatest Commandments” (Mt 22: 34-40)?

To answer your question which I highlighted above, I think it has to do with our inability to “get out of the Old Testamant” so to speak. Instead of seeking to become a “New Creature” and live by the “Law of Love”, we prefer to live under “commandments”.
One need only look at the number of threads here that begin with some variation of, “Is This a Sin…”, to see what I mean.

Now - If we live the Law of Love to the best of our ability, and seek always to improve and making God ever more central in our lives, we will move closer to that perfection we seek.

The greatest problem with the world in achieving the perfection of God is when the imperfection of one person meets the imperfection of another person.

Example: A person becomes angry with me (their imperfection). If I hold my temper, and react to them in Love and forgiveness (perfection) most often the matter is settled quickly. If, however, I react with anger (my imperfection) the matter escalates and it becomes ever more difficult to calm down and forgive. Too many things get said in the “heat of imperfection” which build up and strengthen the sin of anger when a early example of Love will diffuse the imperfection and strengthen the Bond of Love between the two individuals.

There is an old rhyme about how a battle was lost for "The Want Of a Nail.
The same can be said for Charity.
Perhaps the entire war could have been avoided by the single tiniest act of Love early on.

For those not familiar with the Rhyme I referenced. Here it is:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Just some thoughts.
Peace
James
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
The rhyme brought back fond memories of my childhood with my grandmother and mother. Who knows, maybe there was some good old German wisdom in it after all.
It truly made me smile.
 
simple_soul said:
Hello everyone,

On a different thread titled “Is Religious Freedom a Bad Thing?” I had asked a question that went unanswered so I decided to start a new thread to see if anyone could help me understand this better. My question was: How did the Word of God, Jesus Christ, teach us about charity through His words and actions?

I looked up the word Charity and found it to be the following:
  1. benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity; 2) generosity and helpfulness esp. toward the needy or suffering; also; aid given to those in need; 3) public provisions for the relief of the needy. 4) a gift for public benevolent purposes; 5) lenient judgment of others.
So understanding the definition of “charity” leads me to my next question:

WHAT IS LOVE OF HUMANITY and how did Jesus Christ teach us about God‘s love of humanity through His words or actions?

It is my understanding that the way Jesus Christ taught us to love one another is by the example He set for us through His actions and Words. My understanding is that He has UNCONDITIONAL and ALL encompassing Love for ALL Humanity. No matter how much HUMANITY chooses sin and tries to justify itself about it He still loves us UNCONDITIONALY. It is my understanding that we are taught to imitate HIM. How do we do this? By following HIS example, following in HIS footsteps and by choosing the same path that HE chose even if it means DEATH!
Pure and simple.

After reading several posts on the thread “Is religious Freedom a Bad Thing?” it made me start to think that maybe I had missed something. Granted my knowledge and education is limited but I really do believe that we are suppose to base our words and actions on the example of Whom we profess to follow for our salvation.

If I have missed something or if anyone has a deeper understanding of what I have stated please share your thoughts to help me to understand God’s Love of Humanity better.

Always praying and pondering
Click to expand...
Loving humanity is loving your neighbor as your self. this means whatever you are willing to do for your self do for you neighbor. that is if you are willing to clean leporus skin on yourself do it for your neighbor, if your willing to feed your self feed your neighbor ect, we are one body with many members what we do for others we do it to Jesus and to our selves as well.
 
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