Articles
Neighborly Love
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Impress your neighbor as best you can.’” Matt 22:37-39
Wait, the 2nd part of that scripture doesn't say that! It says "Love your neighbor as yourself."
I for one, often forget just who my neighbor is. I tend to think next door or friends and acquaintances. I don't always remember my neighbor is people I don't even know (Luke 10:25-37). It is people in general.
It's not our job to impress them with our wealth, our knowledge, our cars, our athletic ability, or anything else. It's not our job either, to 'keep up with the Jones's', a saying you might not understand unless you come from a couple of generations back. We should not consider equality when we express love to our neighbors. Our job is to love.
In doing so, some people say we have no authority to point out sin, no place to question immoral actions, no right to judge between right and wrong. Scripture would say otherwise, but that's another discussion for another time. Sometimes in order to love someone, we must let them know that what they are doing isn't right! Can we not look at how we love our kids and understand that? So in our loving other people, we not only accept them where they are, but teach them the message of Salvation, to help them get to where Christ wants them to be, and we can't do that by giving a pat on the back and condoning what stands in opposition to the truth of the Gospel.
Some would call us hypocrites for trying to help others live right when we have sin in our own lives, and all of us do. But it's not hypocritical, it's part of true love for their soul. We must recognize our own short-comings, and hope others love us enough to help us when we stray or fall down.
When Jesus quoted the above scripture in answer to a question from his disciples, it is interesting that he said Love God with all we have, body and spirit, and to love others as we love ourselves. What we think is urgently important in our own lives, AFTER we have given ourselves entirely to God, is likewise what we should consider urgently important to our neighbors. If we are to love them as we do ourselves, we should have an urgent concern for their salvation and position with the God of us all.
