JusticeSample

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

The Bible passage above has two commandments. The first great commandment here is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds. To love God as ours is to love him because he is our Creator, Owner, and our Ruler, and to carry out ourselves to him as ours, with submission to him, and dependence on him. We must have the kind of love which dominates our emotions, a love which is the dynamic of our actions.

To love our neighbor as ourselves is the second great commandment (Matt. 22:39) which Jesus quotes comes from Leviticus 19:18. Our love for God must concern in love for men. The Biblical teaching about man is that man is made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26, 27)The Love of man is firmly grounded in the love of God. To love God with total commitment leads us to practical service of men.

Matthew Henry Commentary says,”We must honor and esteem all men, and must wrong and injure none;” As we have opportunity we must do good to all who are in vulnerable situations, suffering domestic violence, poverty and slavery. We must love our neighbor as truly and sincerely as we love ourselves.

Dear God,
Help us this day perfectly to fulfill our responsibilities to our fellowmen and to you. Help us not to be selective about whom we choose as neighbors and teach us to bring comfort to some broken heart and cheer to some lonely life. - Amen

God does not call us to love a country, humanity and principles, projects or ideology. Instead He calls us to something as eminently doable as it is difficult. To love actual, individual people - people made in His image.
- Gary A. Heugen