Real Hope: Loving Our NeighboursSample

God Loved First

Traffic. We all hate it. Someone cuts us off, doesn’t give enough room, then slams on their brakes. Our tempers flare. We shake our fists or point our fingers. We might even swear. At that moment our thoughts toward the other person aren’t exactly wholesome.

We know the command. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and mind and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. The command to love your neighbour appears eight times in the Bible. It isn’t the easiest command to keep. In those moments when you’re slighted by someone in the supermarket parking lot, loving your neighbour is the furthest thing from your mind.

But take a moment to consider the first part of the command. It’s about loving God first. For God loved you first. If we realize that God loves us, we have a shift in mindset. Jesus loves us and is working in us, and the extension of that is how we act towards and treat others. Paul tells us that God works in us so that we will do the right thing. Why? So that we will 'shine among them like stars in the sky.' (Philippians 2:15)

It’s not an easy ask. We will fall short. God knows that and, like the loving Father He is, He picks us up and dusts us off and sets us back on the path He wants us to walk, having reminded us that it’s about loving Him first and foremost and before anything else.

When we love God and do what pleases Him as a life priority, then loving our neighbor isn’t such a big ask.

Written by CHRIS PARFOOT