Love your Neighbor

Matt 22:35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 

If we are not living up to the command to loving our neighbor, we are not living up to the command to loving our God. Scripture sheds a little more light on the context.

Lev 19:18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people,

but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

This is about loving those who have wronged us.   God did the same for us.  

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

All have sinned. As we played the Prodigal chasing the desires of the flesh, he was patient waiting for us to return. We wrong others. We covet what doesn’t belong to us. We speak in our anger. We lie, cheat, steal, manipulate, we Judge others, we refuse to forgive, etc. etc.

We are called to forgive.

1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing,

because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Matt 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39 But I tell you,

Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matt 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Remember the prayer Jesus taught us.

Matt 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…

14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

Eph 4:25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Look at the Scripture reference, still relevant for us today...

Ps 4:4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah

Next time someone is challenging your patience, Love on them. This is our way of showing unmerited Grace.

1 Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

This is about forgiving, from the heart.

Rom 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The spiritual principal for today. Let your light change others. As we forgive and show Gods grace, it affects those around us.

Rom 12:20 "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Connect the dots.

Gods heart from the beginning is found in Torah. Scripture gives us Gods heart about how to love our neighbor. This is Old testament, but these are good examples of how scripture is written for us today. We are descendants of Abraham. With the New Covenant, the following scriptures are now about us and our salvation.  

Deut 10:17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.

God is filled with compassion for all mankind. We were the aliens before Christ came. Now we are called to love our neighbor as Christ loved the church.

Ex 23:1 "Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.

2 "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.

4 "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.

6 "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8 "Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

9 "Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

10 "For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Lev 19:9 "'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.

11 "'Do not steal. "'Do not lie. "'Do not deceive one another.

12 "'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

13 "'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.

"'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.

14 "'Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

15 "'Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

16 "'Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

"'Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the Lord.

17 "'Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.

18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

19 "'Keep my decrees.

Rom 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Our greatest concern in life as a believer is how we treat others. As long as we’re not stabbing people in the back. Not gossiping, slandering, manipulating, Judging, Not stealing, speaking in anger, hating, etc.

If your feeling convicted about an act of the flesh… (That’s the Holy Spirit). To err’ is human… Repent (Think differently). That’s the heart God is looking for.

1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.

Help those in need. Use discernment, knowing there are those who take advantage of others. Holding people accountable can be done in love. If your ever in doubt, error on the side of compassion.

We are made in God’s image, He is light. Jesus came as light. We are a light to the world. These are all of Gods qualities, his nature. We are called to forgive our enemies and pray for them.

For those who have hurt to the core and struggle with a bitter root…. God understands pain. If in your pain you can’t find it in you to pray for them, take it to the cross. That’s what prayer is for. It’s those kind of one on one moments are where God is at his finest. Let the Holy spirit minister to you. It works.

God so loved the world he sent his son. That’s the kind of love we are called to pay forward. It’s about the heart.

Whenever we respond because of our faith, that is an act of worship.

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Relevant Scripture

John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

John 15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

Heb 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:16 God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Heb 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy…15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

1 John 2:3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 Cor 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Matt 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 

Matt 25:31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 

45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'