Who exactly is my neighbor?
Scripture gives us a hint when it says, in Mark chapter 22 verse 31,
“Love your neighbor as yourself”.
It appears as though my neighbor is everyone other than myself. You, my parents, my spouse, children, the grocery checkout, the guy on my bumper, my boss or the one who is obnoxious at work. In other words, everyone.
But, how in the world can I do that? They are so unlikeable and are purposed to be so. It would seem as though they work at it 24-7. So if that’s the way they want to be, why do I need to love them.
Answer: because God tells me to.
But, how do I do it?
In reviewing the scripture, quoted above from Mark chapter 22, we see the answer as spoken by Jesus. He was asked what the greatest commandment was and His response is given in verses 30-31.
“30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
The answer to my question, how do I love everyone, is given in verse 30 preceding the verse that tells me to do so.
If you love God as described, you will begin to love as He does. You will begin to be purposed to do so and will work at it 24-7. Remember, John 3:16 states that God loved everyone so much that He sent Jesus to pay the sin penalty, by death, so that all who would believe He did so would be redeemed from their sin.
I’m thinking if God can do that for us, even those of us who work 24-7 to hate Him, I could at least say good morning to them or resist giving them a special hand signal.
So,
Concentrate on loving God and you will begin to love others as God loves you.
Love,
Steve
Thank you for the challenge and reminder of the Lord's command to love one another.