This week, we will conclude our consideration of the seven classical virtues with the greatest of them all: love, or charity.  Indeed, of all the virtues, “the greatest of these is love.”

Why is that?  Well, Thomas Aquinas said, “no true virtue is possible without charity”—love, in other words, is necessary for us to possess any of the other virtues.  That’s a bold claim…but think about what some of the other virtues would be in the absence of love.

Prudence without love would look an awful lot like shrewdness, or even cunning.  Practical wisdom will only help us get the wrong things done for the wrong reasons if we lack the virtue of love. 

Justice without love transforms into vengeance—either by always looking to get even, or in callous brutality that takes joy in the punishment of others. 

Temperance without love can easily become a kind of strict legalism—either that we impose on ourselves or on others—not for anyone’s good, but for the sake of mere compliance.

And Fortitude without love will give rise either to an uncaring stoicism—a cold indifference that merely numbs our fears—or a vicious barbarism that simply lives for the fight.

Paul is rather blunt about it: If we’re great speakers, brilliant thinkers, faithful believers, generous and sacrificial humanitarians, but lack the virtue of love, we are nothing and gain nothing.  Love, it seems, is pretty important. 

Have a wonderful day.