A neighbor once commented, “Morality is relative. What’s right and wrong is different for everyone.” Her opinion reflected a familiar modern belief – that morality shifts with personal preference or cultural trends. As I listened to this neighbor, I felt the need to pause and pray. Is morality truly relative? Or is there a deeper, spiritual foundation for assessing right and wrong?
Through my study of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, I’ve come to see that morality is not relative. It is grounded in God, divine Principle, Love. True morality is the natural expression of God’s unchanging law practiced in every aspect of our human experience.
Mrs. Eddy writes, “Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals” (Science and Health, p. 13). Since divine Love is All and governs all, morality cannot be personal, shifting, or fear-driven. It must reflect Love’s constancy and care for each of us and all creation.
This spiritual foundation runs throughout the Scriptures. In Hebrew, the word “shalom” – often translated “peace” – points to wholeness, harmony, completeness, and well-being, both individually and collectively. I understand these qualities to be rooted in obedience to God, and that this idea is reflected in the Ten Commandments, which are not restrictive rules but spiritual laws designed to unify, protect, and bless.
The theme of shalom flows through the Old Testament and into the New. The two commandments cited by Jesus as the first and second greatest “in the law,” could be considered as summarizing all moral law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (see Matthew 22:36-39).
To me, in highlighting these two commandments, Jesus was saying that loving God and your neighbor as yourself is at the heart of all moral action. These rules are imperative and cannot be separated because each expresses divine Principle, Love. Taken together, they embrace everyone, including ourselves, in God’s love.
Jesus lived this moral clarity without compromise, often in the face of criticism from Jewish authorities. He healed wherever and whenever he found a need, including on the Sabbath; spoke with outcasts; refused to condemn a woman caught sinning (while still rebuking the sin); and in the midst of the crucifixion said of those responsible, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
His moral authority flowed from his understanding of his oneness with God. He said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30), and his life shows that morality is not based on human will, fear, a need for control, or social custom; it is our response to Love’s unifying embrace of all.
Christian Science teaches us to watch our thinking and distinguish between thoughts that come from divine Love and those that stem from fear. Mrs. Eddy writes, “Man is God’s image and likeness; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God’s reflection” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 183). As we accept this, we find ourselves naturally acting more in accordance with our true selfhood as God’s, Love’s, expression.
I experienced this during a home repair project. Things didn’t go as planned, and I grew increasingly frustrated with my mistakes. But I paused and asked, “Is this the way divine Love sees me?” I replaced irritation with compassion, tenderness, and patience toward myself. A few days later, when I felt the familiar pull of impatience while waiting for my wife to get out of the car, the same shift happened naturally. Patience and gratitude for her replaced frustration. At that moment, it made all the difference in our relationship. Feeling God’s love for me helped me feel His love for her.
As we practice receiving God’s love and reflecting it, something begins to shift our thoughts and actions. Our decisions become less reactive and more responsive to Love’s guidance. Little by little, we feel the spiritual harmony – the shalom – that comes from yielding to God’s government instead of exercising human will.
Morality, then, isn’t a cultural trend or a shifting human standard. It is the natural expression of the divine Principle, Love, which is universal and unchanging.
As we allow Love to govern our thoughts and actions, we feel the healing presence of true morality – steady, graceful, and deeply compassionate. Then we truly are expressing our real nature as Love’s reflection, blessing ourselves, each person we encounter, and the world.
Adapted from an article published in the April 20, 2026, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
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