A New Way to Love Your NeighborSample

Be CURIOUS: Love Is Learning

The Great Commandment tells us “love the Lord your God” first and second, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30). Jesus said this command sums up the entire law - but what does it truly mean to “love your neighbor as yourself”?

It starts with understanding the meaning of “love” in this command, which is agape, the Greek word for divine love. Agape is the kind of love that sacrifices for the good of someone else, and it is expressed to the other person regardless of their performance, track record, or current missteps.

As we think about the way we love, this 5-day devotional experience will challenge you in these ways:

BE CURIOUS: Love is Learning

BE FREE: Love is Forgiving

BE BRAVE: Love is Uncomfortable

BE RESILIENT: Love is Unrelenting

BE REAL: Love is Honest

Upward Curiosity: Love is Always Learning about God

God doesn’t just command us to love and obey him—he invites us to know him personally. In Exodus 20:2, before God gives the Ten Commandments, he reminds Israel that he is their Deliverer. He’s the one who saved them from the Egyptians. God wants to be chosen by people who truly know him, and to know him, we must seek him with curiosity—inquiring, consulting, and learning—just as we do in our closest relationships. Since the beginning, God has invited us to pursue him, because the more we know him, the more we love him.

Inward Curiosity: Love is Always Learning about Self

Read Psalm 139:23. It has always fascinated me that the earlier verses in this Psalm clearly establish that God knows everything about David. But for some reason,n David is asking God to search him. When he invites God to search him, it’s not because God needs to know

him. This plea is so God can show David what He already knows about him. Curiosity about self in this way is not self-centered. It is God-centered. We gain knowledge about God, self, and neighbor as He tells us what is already true. Love seeks to truly understand.

Outward Curiosity: Love is Always Learning about Others

In the same way, our curiosity about God and self should be a purposeful activity; our curiosity about people should not be passive observation but an active pursuit of connection, recognizing our shared humanity. When we approach people with curiosity, looking beyond surface-level interactions, we move toward grace, understanding, and deeper relationships.

You probably have a personal experience where learning about someone significantly changed the way you engaged with them. Learning personal stories, preferences and values adds dimension to our relationships and makes room for us to love authentically. True love (agape) seeks to understand, and when we approach people with genuine curiosity, we reflect God’s love in a world that desperately needs it.