On Wednesday evening, Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living (CCL) hosted a thought-provoking event on the topic of “Is love really all you need?” The event aimed to explore the Christian understanding of the virtue of love and its role in the lives of believers.
The speaker for the event was Dr Chase Kuhn, Director of the Centre for Christian Living. Dr Kuhn began by demonstrating that love requires a definition—one that not all agree on. He explained that Scripture tells us where true love is known: it’s in Jesus. 1 John 3:16 says, “By this we know love, that he [Jesus] laid down his life for us.”
From this definition of love, demonstrated in Jesus’ life and sacrifice, Dr Kuhn explained that virtuous love is unconditional. Love should not consider qualities in a person worth loving, but should manifest as goodwill toward all in a way that seeks their alignment with God’s purposes for them.
As the main talk concluded, Dr Kuhn demonstrated how the gospel frees Christians for virtuous love: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). In fact, by loving as God has loved us, we become lovelier.
The second section of the evening focused on some practical implications of the talk. Moore College student team leader Caitlin Ogg engaged in a discussion with Dr Kuhn about how the principles he advocated would apply to different scenarios: self-love, loving those who are “easy” to love, loving those who are “difficult”, and loving strangers.
The event concluded with a Q&A session, during which attendees had the opportunity to ask Dr Kuhn questions about the nature of love and its role in the Christian life. The questions ranged from one’s capacity to love, duty versus delight, proximity of relationships, and how to interact with those outside the Christian faith.
Overall, the event was a great example of Moore College’s commitment to providing opportunities for Christians to engage with important topics from a biblical perspective. The Centre for Christian Living continues to serve Christians in their reflections on how biblical ethics relates to everyday issues.
For more resources from the Centre for Christian Living, including articles, podcasts, and previous and upcoming events, please visit ccl.moore.edu.au.
