THE LAW WRITTEN ON THE HEART
In the opening pages of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, a striking thought is offered—that our shared sense of right and wrong points beyond ourselves. Every argument, every claim of injustice, carries an unspoken belief that there is a moral law we all recognize. Even those who deny it reveal its truth by trying to explain it away. Humanity, for all its differences, carries within it a common conviction: that some things are truly good, and others truly evil.
If there were no higher power, no mind greater than our own, how did such a law arise? Nature alone teaches survival, not sacrifice. It rewards strength, not compassion. Yet in every heart there beats a strange law that urges us to love those who wrong us, to seek truth even when it costs us, to give rather than grasp. Such impulses are not the inventions of instinct; they are signposts of the divine.
We did not write this law within ourselves any more than we hung the stars in their places. It is discovered, not designed. The moral law does not whisper self-preservation; it calls for self-denial. It does not flatter us; it corrects us. When we ignore it, it does not fade—it follows, like the voice of conscience that will not be silenced. It speaks still, even when we try to drown it in noise or justify our rebellion.
And this voice—this inward law—tells us something about its Author. It tells us that the Source of all being must also be the Source of goodness. That the same Mind who ordered the heavens ordered the human heart. To say otherwise is to believe that meaning sprang from meaninglessness, and morality from mere molecules. But if there was ever truly nothing—no mind, no will, no goodness—then there would be nothing still. Something cannot rise from nothing. Order cannot grow from chaos without the touch of a Designer.
The moral law reveals that life is not an accident. It is a creation, stamped with purpose. And if we listen closely, we find that this law not only accuses—it also invites. It shows us our failures, yes, but it also awakens our longing to be made right. The same truth that humbles the proud gives hope to the penitent.
The law written on the heart leads us toward the Lawgiver. And when we come face to face with Him, we discover that He is not a cold force or distant intellect, but a living God—righteous, merciful, and near to all who call upon Him.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
