Why We Need To Love Our Neighbors
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He gave freely of both his time and his money to help this Jewish man who was not only a stranger, but also an enemy from a foreign country. To reinforce that "love your neighbor" applies to everyone, Jesus extended the rule of love to even our enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that?
Even scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?
Love Thy Neighbor
Even the heathen do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Like the unselfish Samaritan man of Jesus' parable, we are called to extend our love and concern to all persons everywhere, as our neighbors. We should not exclude anyone or any group because of social status, a supposed character fault, religious difference, racial difference, ethnic difference, citizenship difference, etc. For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Anger can consume us with hatred and block out the love of God. Whether between parent and child, spouses, friends, or nations, expressions of anger divide us and drive us toward open hostility.
More often than not, our angry feelings are based on a misinterpretation of what someone said or did. A grudge clouds our judgment and may lead us to an act of revenge that can never be undone. The Old Testament law specified equal revenge for equal wrong: But this rule was too harsh for the new age of the kingdom of God. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said the right thing to do is to take no revenge at all.
The need to forgive is not some ideal that we cannot hope to attain. Forgiveness is necessary to free us from the dark cloud of anger and resentment that can literally destroy our own lives. We cannot afford to wait for the other person to repent and apologize. Unless we let go of our anger and the desire to punish or get even, the love of God cannot enter our lives.
We may choose a service-oriented occupation, or we may just do our everyday jobs with integrity and respect for others. If we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and mind, loving our neighbor is the natural result. If you feel called to this tangible expression of love, please consider Compassion International. Do we think about God in positive terms? Our relationships with our fellow human beings, on the other hand, are more immediate. They are one of her favorite vegetables, so we eat them pretty often in my house.
Jesus could hardly have made things plainer than in His Parable of the Sheep and Goats, above. We are not meant to live hard-hearted or self-centered lives.
- Fort-Dimanche, Dungeon of Death.
- Betty at Fort Blizzard.
- Eine Gegenüberstellung von kognitivem Lernen und Brain-Based Learning (German Edition)!
- Les couleurs de lexpression (French Edition)!
- Taking Chances!
We are called to put our faith into practice and truly love our neighbors, especially those less fortunate. God has given each of us unique talents and gifts to use in His service.
He begins by asking why it is that we should love our neighbors. Isn't it enough to love God? He relates how St. Catherine of Siena tackled that. To love your neighbor as yourself as commanded, you need to measure correctly . The measurement within this command is—as yourself. To love your neighbor.
His work for us on earth is to use our gifts and talents in the service of others! Each of us has something to offer to someone in need. We can give our money and our time to charity, be a friend to someone who is sick or lonely, do volunteer work, or be a peacemaker. We may give unselfishly of our time to our spouse, children or parents. We may choose a service-oriented occupation, or we may just do our everyday jobs with integrity and respect for others.
What Does it Mean to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?
It would seem that the more we give to others, the poorer we become, but just the opposite is true! Service to others brings meaning and fulfillment to our lives in a way that wealth, power, possessions and self-centered pursuits can never match. For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over.
Whatever measure you use to give- large or small- will be used to measure what is given back to you.
- Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.
- Four Reasons to Love God and Your Neighbor.
- Schönesding! (German Edition);
- Myricae e Canti di Castelvecchio (Italian Edition);
Does this mean we can't satisfy Jesus' command unless we have abundant wealth to give, or extraordinary talents to serve other? It is not how much we give, but the spirit in which we give that counts with God. Each of us is called to give generously of what wealth and talents we have been given - whether it is a little or a lot. Jesus compared a poor widow, who gave only a little, to the wealthy men who gave much more.
The wealthy men had only given a token amount from their great wealth. In God's eyes, the widow gave much more because she gave from the heart:. His Word tells us that God desires that all would be saved 1 Timothy 2: So it's clear that God sees all of us as potential children. Because He lives outside of time and has seen the end from the beginning, He also knows who will choose salvation and who will not.
What Does it Mean to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?
For us, that is where faith comes in. It is not for us to know who will choose Him and who will not, but we are called to be His witnesses. In order to fulfill that calling, we must love others enough to desire their salvation just as He does. Here's the good news for those who find this teaching difficult: Nowhere does it say we have to like our neighbor!
As for the how part of this formula, we turn to these words from the Apostle Paul. Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. It simply means respecting others and regarding their needs and desires as highly as we regard our own. Keeping this commandment, however, is likely to require the supernatural assistance only God, through Christ, can provide.
How can we learn to love the guy next door with the barking dog, especially when we don't even like him?
Perhaps the secret is to recognize that our neighbor, whether it's the guy next door, the checker at the local grocery store, or the Sunday school teacher at church, is someone as worthy of God's love as you or I. In The Message paraphrase of the Bible, John 1: The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
Could it be that the way we love our neighbor is through getting to know Christ, the living Word of God? It's human nature to emulate those we admire most, so in getting to know Christ, we'll discover a God worthy of our whole-hearted love, and our neighbor will see that love in us. Another pure way to love thy neighbor is to help children in need.
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If you feel called to this tangible expression of love, please consider Compassion International. God , the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus , the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried , and rose from the dead according to the Bible.