An extract from a letter from Aristides, a 2nd century Christian philosopher, writing to the Emperor Hadrian in the early 130s AD. I wonder, how do we measure up today?

Oh Emperor, it is the Christians that have sought and found the truth, for they acknowledge God.

They do not keep for themselves the goods entrusted to them. They do not covet what belongs to others, but they show love to their neighbours. They do not do to another what they would not like done to themselves. They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way, they make their enemies their friends. It has become their passion to do good to their enemies. They live in the awareness of their own smallness. Everyone of them who has anything gives ungrudgingly to the one who has nothing. And if any of them sees a homeless stranger, they bring them into their own home, under their roof. If any one of them becomes poor while the Christians have nothing to spare, then they fast two or three days until everyone can eat. In this way, they supply for the poor exactly what they need. This, oh emperor, is the rule of life for the Christians. This is how they live…

(see also    http://www.gaychristian101.com/aristides.html)