I respect the rule of law, but I also genuinely love all people

Hear the words of Mike Johnson: “I respect the rule of law, but I also genuinely love all people, regardless of their lifestyle choices.” These words speak of balance, of the delicate tension between order and compassion. For without the rule of law, chaos consumes society; yet without love, law becomes a cold blade, cutting rather than healing. Johnson’s words remind us that the highest path is not to choose one over the other, but to bind them together—justice tempered by mercy, law crowned with love.

From the beginning of civilizations, rulers and thinkers wrestled with this very balance. Hammurabi carved his laws into stone, declaring order among his people; yet prophets rose to remind kings that justice without compassion becomes tyranny. The Greeks taught nomos, the rule of law, yet they also exalted philia and agape, love for one’s fellow beings. Johnson echoes this ancient wisdom: to respect law but also to love people is to walk the path of harmony, where neither order nor compassion is forgotten.

History gives us luminous examples of this principle. Consider Abraham Lincoln, who upheld the Constitution and the laws of the republic even in the crucible of civil war. Yet when the conflict ended, he spoke not of vengeance, but of reconciliation—“with malice toward none, with charity for all.” He respected the rule of law, yet he governed through love, seeing even enemies as brothers to be restored. This fusion of justice and compassion saved a nation from tearing itself apart.

There is deep wisdom, too, in the acknowledgment of diversity. To love all people regardless of lifestyle choices is to recognize that humanity is a garden of many flowers, each distinct, each carrying its own beauty. Too often in history, law was wielded to punish difference, to crush those who did not conform. Yet the spirit of love whispers a greater truth: that the measure of a person is not in how closely they resemble us, but in the divine worth they carry within. To see this worth is to live beyond prejudice.

And yet, this teaching is no easy task. The human heart often clings to judgment; the mind seeks to divide between “us” and “them.” But Johnson’s words call us to a higher labor: to hold conviction without hatred, to uphold principles without discarding compassion. This is the way of the ancients who taught that true strength is not in crushing one’s enemies, but in loving them, even while standing firm in one’s beliefs. For in such balance lies the possibility of peace.

The lesson is plain: respect must guide our actions, and love must guide our hearts. To abandon law is to dissolve society; to abandon love is to lose our humanity. Together, they make a covenant that upholds dignity for all. In daily life, this means treating even those with whom we disagree with kindness, resisting the temptation to scorn or condemn. It means listening, seeking to understand, and remembering that every human being is more than their choices—they are a life, a story, a soul.

What then shall we do? Let us live as guardians of both law and love. Obey the just order of society, but let our obedience never harden us into cruelty. When we encounter those unlike ourselves, let our first act not be judgment, but compassion. Let us teach our children that strength lies not in conformity but in empathy, not in condemnation but in respect. For in this way, we fulfill the true purpose of law—not domination, but the protection of life and the flourishing of all.

Therefore, O listener, remember: to respect the rule of law is noble, but to love all people is divine. Hold both together, and you will walk the path of wisdom, the path of the ancients who sought not only to govern, but to uplift, not only to rule, but to heal. And in this balance, you will find not only justice, but also peace—the peace that comes when law and love dwell side by side.