How does Christianity inspire adherents to do everything in love?

Christians are inspired daily by new teachings from significant people, ideas, ethics

and significant practices. Agape, a greek term for ‘love’, is an essential quality taught

by Jesus in Christianity and is the root of all beliefs and reasonings for all actions.

Christian adherents are inspired by their faith to go forth in life doing daily activities,

religious traditions or communicating with the act of Agape. With the significant

influence of the noble Paul of Tarsus and his letters commemorating Jesus’

teachings, Christians can scope their journey in life through the quality of Agape.

Corinthians 16:13 states, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous;

be strong. Do everything in love” the words of Paul of Tarsus guide adherents closer

to the purpose of their faith and their Lord, God. Christianity holds many ideas and

ethics that help shape good and bad beliefs. Environmental ethics and the

Sacrament of Baptism help strengthen the writings of Paul and deepen the purpose

in life for Christians as these elements illustrate the meaning of Agape.

St Paul of Tarsus is an excellent contribution to Christianity as his letters further

teach Christian adherents Jesus’ various principles, ideas and ways to “Do

everything in love”. Paul became an influential figure through the Missionary

Journeys that involved him travelling to a community to preach the Message of

Jesus and educate people on the intricacies of Christianity. Paul would often write

letters to these communities if he heard of or sensed any trouble or instability in the

church he had formed there. “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be

courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” These words were an instruction from

Paul to the Corinthian Church to demand higher ethical and moral standards as they
faced issues such as claims of spiritual superiority. Paul urges the Corinthians to be

of one mind and ensure that all they say and do is done in love. Every Christian

should know the importance of watching and being alert, hence, “Be on your guard”,

for they have many enemies that seek their downfall. Christians are surrounded by

many false apostles, false prophets, false teachers, deceitful workers and doctrines

of demons. Therefore, Paul expresses that they “..stand firm in the faith..” not to be

corrupted by the world's false ways and to continue to believe in the scriptures that

Paul had taught them about their salvation. He continues, “..be courageous, be

strong..” to further support the idea of fighting for your faith from corruption and

having a strong will.

Paul concludes the statement with, “Do everything in love”, reminding the

Corinthians that although they should fight for their faith, they must never forget the

nature in which Jesus taught and claimed his faith; through Agape. Paul stresses

that Agape should be at the centre of a Christian’s life. Paul adheres to Jesus’ idea

of the meaning of life: to “love God and love your neighbour as yourself”, Mark 12:31,

which includes their enemies. The Love Commandment by Jesus is to help

adherents understand that their love for God will be expressed by their love for

people and vice versa. Agape love is not primarily a feeling; instead, Jesus depicts it

as a form of action. The action to show Agape should be represented through a

choice that Christians make to seek the well-being of people selflessly without

expecting anything in return; this reflects the very character of God. Jesus was

constantly helping and serving people around him in practical and tangible ways.

This is seen in stories like ‘The man with leprosy’ and ‘Healing the man blind from

birth’. With Jesus’ teachings integrated through St Paul’s letters, believers of the
Christian faith, such as Martin Luther King Jr. are inspired to do everything in love.

Martin was inspired by St Paul and had been a contributing influence to the action of

racial equality. Martin used Jesus' idea of 'loving your enemies' to talk about

conditional and unconditional love. He expressed the need to fight for this equality

whilst showing unconditional love to his enemies, who showed hate to people of

African descent. Therefore the action of Agape love has been historically taught by

Jesus through St Paul of Tarsus and has inspired Christians such as Martin Luther

King Jr.

Christian Environmental ethics highlight that God is the creator of all things and that

humans need to contribute to God and the land to ensure the world's fragile

environment today is nurtured and protected. In the Bible, “Adam and Eve”, Genesis

2: 4-8:24 shows acts of failure against the teachings of God when Adam and Eve

disobeyed God and sinned against his creation. Environmental ethics are vital for

Christians as the sin of creation is demonstrated to change the goodness of a

person’s character negatively. Christian ethics guide adherents away from sinful

accounts. The purpose of human existence is to receive God’s love that has

presented itself in Jesus and give it back to others. The essential virtue of Agape

love is that it morally informs adherents of the need to act and “do everything in love”

daily. Christianity encourages followers to emulate a love for creation, enabling a

deeper connection to God by responding to environmental issues. Climate change

has corrupted the once “very good” Earth that God created due to the sinful acts of

those disregarding the need to care and love for the earth. Current organisations

such as ‘Christian Aid’ show the inspired Christians working toward a more nurtured

and protected earth by demonstrating the action of Agape. ‘Christian Aid’ employees
“work with local partners and communities to fight injustice, respond to humanitarian

emergencies, campaign for change, and help people claim the services and rights

they are entitled to.” Ultimately, the teachings of disregarding Christian ethics have

inspired adherents to “stand firm in their faith” and “do everything in love” daily. This

has contributed to the rise of organisations to nurture the environment from issues

like climate change.

Baptism displays the immersion and aspersion of adult and child people and signifies

their baptismal purity and cleansing of any prior sins. Symbols also reflect one’s

spiritual transformation, as referenced in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “anyone who belongs to

Christ has become a new person”. Christian churches practice baptism as a rite of

initiation in which new members of their faith are welcomed to the community of

Christ. During Jesus’ times, Jews were corrupt and hypocrites, which Jesus called

them out for, making him their enemy. However, Jesus died for the selfishness and

corruption of his enemies because he loved them, which derives from the core

teaching of Jesus’ ‘Love Commandments’. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection reveal

God’s love for the world, “God demonstrated his own Agape for us in this, while we

were still sinners, the Messiah died for us.”, Romans 5:8. Baptism holds particular

importance in the Christian community as it affirms many of Christianity’s core

beliefs, including the nature of the Holy Trinity, Salvation and baptism as the first rite

for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism aims to renew oneself, detaching from their

previous life of hatred and isolation and encouraging one to pursue a new existence

focused on the action of Agape love. Through the resurrection and salvation of

Christ, adherents are shown God’s selfless love for his people, even if they are

sinners. Leaving the sacrament of Baptism as a spiritual opening to the Christian

faith to renew their souls from sin as a sign of forgiveness. Therefore, if God has

shown this kind of love to humankind, Christian believers should feel inspired to

show love to one another and God. Christian adherents can show this act of

forgiveness from sin as a way of mimicking God’s Agape by learning to “be

courageous” and forgive and love their peers or family when conflict strikes.

In closing, adherents of the Christian faith are inspired to “do everything in love”

through the different teachings, ideas and practices. St Paul of Tarsus and Jesus the

significant teachers of Christianity, environmental ethics, and Baptism. Christianity

has effectively inspired adherents to act in the practice of Agape. This is evident

through American Minister Martin Luther King, the environmental organisation

‘Christian Aid’ and the sacrament of Baptism symbolising forgiveness. With these

concepts, believers can grasp that Agape love is the action to seek the well-being of

others and their world selflessly and to love their enemies.