The commandments given are plain. Straightforward.
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your strength, and with all your mind,’
and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.”
Luke 10:27
Love the Lord with all that I am. Yes! And love my neighbor. Of course.
But, uh, by the way. Who is my neighbor?
Unlikely neighbor
Jesus takes time to answer the question. Clarify. With a parable.
And highlights an ethnic group his audience looks down upon. Distrusts. Considers dirty.
Samaritans.
It’s been going on for generations.
They will take the long road around a neighborhood. Or a country. Just to avoid an encounter with them.
And the only Samaritan in the story turns out to be a hero. The unlikely neighbor. The one who shows mercy to their fellow Jew.
Our adversary
Love your neighbor. The command hasn’t changed.
Neither has the adversary. Ever pushing his agenda of destruction. To distort the image of God. And mar the message of hope.
Prejudice bears his mark. Fueled by rumor and fear. Distrust. Weaving its way across history. Through conversations and generations.
Slurs spoken. Snubs and slights. In private and out in the open. Careless and pointed.
Prejudice
Prejudice lurks in the dark. Not just here in my home country. But around the world. Across cultures. In cities and villages. Slums and palaces.
Leading to oppression. Violence. Slavery. Murder.
Insidious marks of a broken world.
Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion. Always looking for someone to devour.
Love your neighbor
But as followers of Christ we learn to resist the evil one. Standing firm in the faith.
And we learn how to love. Because God first loved us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
God loves the whole world. All peoples. Of every ethnicity. Each nation. All tribes. Every language.
These are our neighbors. The likely and the unlikely.
Love your neighbor. Yes, that one.
Keep speaking the truth
Today, while it is day. Behind the scenes. Off the air. Beyond the screens and posts and hashtags. All along the everyday path. Let’s love our neighbors.
Do the faithful work of love He calls us to. As we daily abide in Christ. Through prayer and the Word.
Stand firm against the lie and the liar. Weeping with those who weep. Encouraging the disheartened.
Keep speaking the truth of His gospel.
By the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the sacrificial way of Christ.
For the glory of the Father.
What about you?
What has God taught you about loving your neighbor?
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6 replies on “Love your neighbor”
I was so blessed to have a Daddy that loved people – there were hard things he had gone through to come to that place and I only knew a small portion of the story. But his love for other people radiated from him and motivated his decisions and actions. I miss him!
And I’m grateful for a Heavenly Father who has shown me love and grace – and taught me more about seeing people as HE sees them. Surely not perfect – He’s still working on me!
Love takes the initiative.
Yes, sister! And His leads the way.
Thanks for sharing about your daddy, friend. And yes, ever learning in this life! And what a difference it makes when I ask the Lord to help me see others as He does.
“Do the faithful work of love He calls us to.” Thank you for this encouragement!
Thanks for sharing, friend.