FOCUSING ON THE GOOD INSIDE ALL OF US

THERE is good in us all, despite ourselves, as tales about the nature of God-love inform us.

- RENUKA NARAYANAN

For one, there is no dearth of stories with immense spiritual and social value in the Bible. I particularly like the episode in the New Testament, Matthew 22:35-40, in which a lawyer asks Jesus, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"

Jesus tells him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." These statements, the first of which echoes the Old Testament, are known as two great commandments of Christianity.

They were uttered during Jesus's third visit to the Jewish temple, Jesus himself being a Jew. This episode also contains other important points that Jesus made, such as paying taxes ungrudgingly to the state: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," as also the touching instance of the poor widow who offered God all he had out of love. This is described in the New Testament in Mark 12: 41-44. Jesus was at the temple with his disciples. He sat across from the temple treasury and watched many rich people put in large sums. Then he saw something he used to teach the disciples about giving.

A poor widow came and put in two copper coins. Jesus taught that she gave more than the rich, for she gave all that she had, whereas the rich had a lot of money to spare and their donations did not pinch.