From “Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community” by Katherine M. Douglas and Brittany M. Tausen
Focusing on what science and theology do and do not do might be helpful. Theology answers questions related to who and why – it can tell us about who God is, who we are, and why we are called to behave in a particular way (for example, why should we love our neighbor). For Christians, theology helps us to discern moral imperatives. Science does not dabble in the “shoulds” and “should nots”; rather, it focuses on questions related to what and how. These questions are valuable as we consider what factors shape our willingness to engage with our neighbors and how we can do so in a way that is received as loving.
As Christians, we have a common call to love. We are told in countless passages to love one another as Jesus loved us. And yet, we know how difficult this is in reality. We all have those people in our life that feel hard to love and, if we are honest, ones we do not really want to love or feel it is our job to love. As Paul writes in Romans 7:15, we want to do good, but we often fail to do so – and sometimes we even do the very thing we do not want to do. One of the benefits of having psychological insights (in addition to praying that the Spirit would guide us and give us strength) is that you do not have to rely on your willpower alone in any given moment to act how you want to act. There are actually small changes you can make in your life and the ways that you interact with people that will help you love them better. As you read these chapters, we pray that you will be compelled to curate your life in a way that maximizes the frequency and quality of your engagement with others, not because we guilt you into it, but because you are more aware of common roadblocks that get in the way. In essence, we hope to make it easier for you to do what you already want to do, to love better.