Using is not Loving

Karol Wojtyla, later known as Pope John Paul II, wrote a book entitled, Love & Responsibility. First of all the title hit me right away. After all, it's what I've been convicted of the responsibility that comes with love. But Harol had this conviction way back in 1960 when he wrote this book. In the first chapter, one of his headings reads: 'Love' as the opposite of 'using.' What a clarifier. If you need clarification, just ask are you loving or using. He goes on to say, "Man's capacity for love depends on his willingness consciously to seek a good together with others, and to subordinate himself to that good for the sake of others, or to others for the sake of that good."

He expounds by saying we must "free ourselves from the utilitarian, the 'consumer' attitude [Latin consumere = 'use') towards other persons."

(page 28, 29)