There was a teacher at my kids’ high school who would often respond to the students’ persistent requests with an unassailable conversation stopper:
I love you, but No.
For the kids, it was the last word in that sentence which resonated. They didn’t really believe the first part. And that is understandable, for much of our teacher-student, boss-employee, or parent-child conversations operate in an atmosphere of power. Those with power may from time to time sprinkle nice words in their directives, but their underlings often hear only the directive.
As Christians, we have been given the two greatest commandments: to love God with all that we have, and to love our neighbor as we want to be loved. For us, then, the better wording of the conversation stopper might be:
I love you, so No.
Love sanctifies power. Our all-powerful God is also the God of Love, and we are called to be like Him. As a parent, as a teacher, even a boss, we should start and finish our communication with those in our care with love.
It is because I truly love my children that I don’t give them so many things they want.
It is because I love my students that I hold them accountable to the requirements of the course.
It is harder to see love at the heart of employer-employee relationships because of the transactional character of modern capitalism, but God is against an impersonal, transactional economy. At the center of the Church’s teachings on social issues is a reminder of the deep dignity of the human person made in the image of God. No economic or political system is valid if it ignores that fundamental reality. So, love should be why I say No to my employees.
When we live, learn, and work together, we must bind our instructions and corrections in love. It is the way, the truth, and the life.
Bound in Love 