What is Love?

Virtue of LoveI give you a new commandment: love one another. John 13:34

The preeminent virtue, charity (love of God and love of neighbor because he is a child of God), gives purpose to all the other virtues. Love is our reason for being good because God is Love. Love is our way of being “like God.” It is the lodestone, the North Star of our actions. Without love, it would be illogical to act on anything but short-term self-interest in whatever way I choose to define it at the moment. As with Faith and Hope, the power of Love is above reason, but not contrary to it. This can be illustrated by the love you have for your family: this love does not offend our sense of Reason, but can also never be fully grasped or explained.