Do you remember the second greatest commandment? Jesus makes it clear that above all else we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). But then He takes this a step further and says that the second greatest commandment is to âlove your neighbor as yourselfâ.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus made a point to instruct us in this way? It is overall a rather obvious command. However, it is also one that we, as broken people living in a fallen world, immensely struggle with.
He knows our hearts.
He knows how easy it is for us to accuse, assume, judge, and allow bitterness to creep in and lodge where it doesnât belong.
So to clear up any confusion as to what the greatest commandments are Jesusâ response to a certain curious lawyer many years ago was to:
- Love God with every ounce of your being
- Love your neighbor in the same way that you would care for yourself
Iâll be the first to say that it is much easier to love a holy, righteous, merciful, and gracious God than it is to love sinful people. And just to make sure that weâre all on the same page here, Christâs reference to âneighborâ encompasses the entire human population (Luke 10:25-37), not just the sweet elderly lady who lives next door.
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Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself
So how do we do this? What does loving your neighbor as yourself while living in the 21st century actually look like?
I donât have this area mastered by any means. There are days when I still make assumptions and withhold love. There are days that I allow pride, exhaustion, or discouragement to trump my desire to speak peace into the heart of another.
But then there are days when God gives me an opportunity to love my neighbor as myself and I actually follow through in obedience.
Friend, those days bring about joy!
We were created to genuinely love others and place them before ourselves. When we begin to see the beauty of Christâs command in this the door flings wide open for a deeply rooted joy and sweet peace to begin replacing our selfishness and pride.
When I take a step back and look at what the Bible as a whole has to say on this topic of loving your neighbor as yourself I see several ways that we can implement the second greatest commandment.
To love others well we canâŚ
1. Show Them Grace
We are not by default grace givers. Extending undeserved kindness is not typically near the top of our to-do list when weâve been wronged. And yet we are called to be imitators of Christ who not only offers us incomprehensible grace and mercy, but actually died for us while we were still His enemies (Romans 5:7-10).
When we remember the kind of love our Savior holds for us (in spite of our immense failures and wretched hearts) it makes it a bit easier to extend grace to others.
Please donât assume that you know the entire story of a situation. We have to guard against self-righteously judging and creating a negative image of someone inside of our hearts. God knows the entire story. Often times we donât.
He has simply called us to be salt and light in a dark world. Heâs called us to offer compassion, and boldly but lovingly share the Good News of Jesus. Letâs pray for the strength to offer one another grace. You never know how God may use it.
2. Make Them Smile
In the busyness of life it is all too easy to get wrapped up in our to-do lists and agendas that we often neglect to see the needs of anyone other than ourselves and immediate family. But the reality is that when we slow down to truly see those around us, opportunities abound to put a smile on their face.
Say hello and offer someone a smile today. Give them a compliment or kind words of encouragement. A simple act of kindness can go a long way in brightening someoneâs day.
Related: DOES EVERYONE GO TO HEAVEN?
WHAT IS GODâS WILL FOR MY LIFE?
3. Forgive
Forgiveness is a weighty matter. When weâve been deeply hurt it is completely unnatural to simply forgive. We all desire justice. But Godâs Word makes it clear that we are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us (Ephesians 4:32).
Godâs Word also makes it clear that justice will be served- it is just not to come about by our vengeful hand. He will take care of that. Our job as Christians is to take the first step towards reconciliation by releasing the offender from owing us anything. Their sin is certainly not excused, but there is a great burden lifted when we let go of our bitterness and resentment to leave it in the hands of our Maker.
To âlove your neighbor as yourselfâ means to remember the grace youâve been shown at Calvary.
4. Serve
Despite our cultureâs attempts to try to convince that life revolves around us ⌠it doesnât. Godâs command for us to serve one another is clearly woven throughout Scripture. He created the human heart and He knows what satisfies it.
Serving each other can bring about joy for everyone involved. Weâve got to be more intentional in quieting lifeâs noise and busyness in order to better see the needs of those around us. Please know that serving others doesnât have to mean spending hours a week doing manual labor. Simple gestures can be just as impactful. If youâre looking for some easy ways to begin serving others better you could try:
- Picking up groceries for an ill friend or neighbor
- Holding the door for someone while offering them a smile
- Asking someone if you can return their shopping cart for them
- Visiting an elderly person who doesnât get much company
- Inviting someone over for a nice home cooked meal
- Pulling weeds or mowing the lawn for a single mother
- Offering to babysit for a couple who isnât able to get out much
- Serve at a soup kitchen
May we be more intentional in looking for opportunities to serve and then watch God do a work in both of our hearts.
5. Pray
Time and time again Iâve been reminded that if youâre going to love your neighbor as yourself youâve got to pray for them. Prayer has been an area of slow growth for me since becoming a Christian in my teen years. For so long I was under the impression that, yes, prayer is important, but surely studying and memorizing Godâs Word was even more so.
It has only been in recent years that Iâve truly begun to grasp the magnitude of prayer in a believerâs life. Prayer allows God to prove Himself faithful. It strengthens our faith and our relationship with our Creator. Prayer changes hearts, minds, wills, ideas, philosophies, agendas.
It is a humbling experience to approach the God of the universe through prayer and know that not only does He hear us, but He actually delights to hear and answer the pleas of His children (Proverbs 15:8, 1 John 5:14-15, John 15:7, Isaiah 65:24, Psalm 37:4-5).
Please pray for those you come in contact with. Pray for your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances. Pray for the unkind grocery clerk, the lonely widow, the grumpy waiter, the disrespectful child. You may be the only person who ever takes the time to speak to God on their behalf. Prayer is powerful, Sweet Friend. Please never forget that.
âPrayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed, a rare delight that is always revealing some new beauty.â
â E.M. Bounds
âIt is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.â
â Hudson Taylor
6. Humbly Admit When Youâre Wrong
Weâve already discussed the importance of forgiving others, but it is also important for us to humbly seek forgiveness when weâve wronged another. In our pride it can be incredibly easy for us to feel as if our hasty response or unloving choice was justified, or that weâve done no wrong and have no need to ask the forgiveness of another in the first place.
This is not the heart of Jesus.
We are called to live peaceably with all (Romans 12:18) and any part we play in division is not doing so. Whether in marriage, parenting, friendships, or elsewhere, admitting our failures and humbly seeking forgiveness can go a long way in mending a relationship.
7. Seek Them Out- Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
Sometimes loving your neighbor as yourself may mean purposefully going out and searching for them. Godâs Word tells us to care for the orphans and widows (James 1:27). Although this list isnât expounded upon in Scripture I believe that we can safely conclude that this also includes⌠The less fortunate, the hurting, the misunderstood, the exploited, the struggling , the grieving.
When we come alongside those who are hurting to comfort, listen to, provide for, and share the hope of the gospel we are also serving Christ Himself (Matthew 25:40).
Do you know a family who is struggling financially? What about someone with a mental disorder who is often misunderstood and looked down upon? Do you know a deployed soldier who could use some encouragement or one who has already returned home who is suffering from PTSD? Do you know a couple that has lost a child? A child who has lost a parent? A wife or husband who is still grieving the loss of their spouse?
Then go. Care for them. Speaks words of life into their hearts. Share the good news of an amazing God who sent His only Son to offer them a beautiful gift of grace.
And if you donât know anyone personally at the moment Iâd encourage you to check out these organizations below that provide opportunities for us to be the hands and feet of Christ to those who are struggling.
- Christian Relief Fund â Child sponsorship program
- Operation Underground Railroad â Former CIA, Navy Seals, Special Agents use their training to rescue children from human trafficking across the globe
- Soldiers Angels â âAdoptâ a soldier to write and send care packages to during deployment
- Samaritanâs Purse â Humanitarian aid that helps meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine
- Tim Tebow Foundation â Special needs ministries, orphan care and prevention, and helping in the fight against human trafficking
- Mercy Ships â Hospital ships that travel the world to perform surgical procedures for those in need
- Charity Water â Provides clean drinking water for millions around the world
If youâre not familiar with Charity Water Iâd encourage you to listen to founder Scott Harrisonâs powerful testimony as you have the time.
Each one of the ministries listed above earns a 4 star rating on Charity Navigator so you can rest assured that they are all reputable organizations with a sincere desire to help those in need.
8. Share the Hope of Christ
The 7 areas listed above are great ways for us as believers to put our faith into action. However, if we are only focused on these points and neglect to obey Christâs command to âgo therefore and make disciples of all nationsâ (Matthew 28:19) then we are failing to see the whole mission of His ministry.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came to redeem sinful people in desperate need of a Savior.
Ultimately, from Godâs perspective, loving your neighbor as yourself means to care enough to share truth with them. The truth that we are each sinners who fall short of His glory. That our sin separates us from a holy God and we can never earn our way to Heaven by doing enough good works, being kind enough, compassionate enough, generous enough, attending church, etc.
Only through the perfect sinless sacrifice of the finished work of Jesus can we be forgiven. If we genuinely turn away from our sin, seek Christâs forgiveness, and accept His sacrifice on our behalf we can rest assured of an eternity in His presence. True repentance canât help but transform a heart and life.
âTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.â
2 Corinthians 5:17
In Him we can find true joy, lasting satisfaction, and a peace that passes all understanding in the midst of lifeâs trials.
Friends, it is not okay for us as Christians to continually meet a personâs physical needs, while never taking the time to speak of their most important need of all- a Savior. The kindest way for us to love our neighbors as ourselves is to share of the amazing grace and goodness of Jesus that we come nowhere near deserving.
Letâs be a light in a dark world and do good. But then letâs take it one step further⌠letâs share the hope of our Savior with a lost and dying world before itâs too late.
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