Loving your neighbor

[B-A-C]

I recently heard a joke about loving your neighbor.

I love my neighbor... I went over and loved her twice this week.

Yes, the joke is in bad taste.. and really not even all that funny. But I leave it here because some people really don't know what "Loving their neighbor" means.

Let us start with the command to love our neighbors... that seems like the logical place.

Lev 19:18; 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
Matt 5:43; "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'
Matt 19:19; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Matt 22:39; "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Mark 12:31; "The second is this, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Mark 12:33; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE'S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
Luke 10:27; And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Rom 13:8; Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9; For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Rom 13:10; Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Gal 5:14; For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Jas 2:8; If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.

So we have a dozen verses here that tell us to love our neighbors. Once in the Old Testament, and 11 times in the New Testament. Four times in letters written to Gentiles.
So who is our neighbor? Jesus was asked this very question. This was His answer.

Luke 10:25; And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Luke 10:26; And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"
Luke 10:27; And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Luke 10:28; And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE."
Luke 10:29; But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Luke 10:30; Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
Luke 10:31; "And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:32; "Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:33; "But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
Luke 10:34; and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
Luke 10:35; "On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.'
Luke 10:36; "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers' hands?"
Luke 10:37; And he said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

In verse 29 above.. the question is asked. "who is my neighbor?"
Just about all of us know the story.
A priest walks by... a Levite walks by... I wonder if Jesus picks the two most "religious" types of people on purpose here.
Of course we have the Samaritan... who wasn't even a Jew. Obviously our neighbors don't have to be the same race as us.
Now I wonder... if you asked the priest or the Levite.. do you love your neighbor? What they would have answered? There's no way to know what they would have said for sure.
But it doesn't matter what they would have said... it's what they did that showed the answer in their heart.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

The story of the good Samaritan is a lot like the story of the sheep and the goats.

Matt 25:31; "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
Matt 25:32; "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
Matt 25:33; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
Matt 25:34; "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matt 25:35; 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
Matt 25:36; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'
Matt 25:37; "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
Matt 25:38; 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
Matt 25:39; 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
Matt 25:40; "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'
Matt 25:41; "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Matt 25:42; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
Matt 25:43; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.'
Matt 25:44; "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?'
Matt 25:45; "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'
Matt 25:46; "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

This passage starts off talking about the the second coming. Jesus is coming back with the angels. This is an important point because Jesus wasn't just speaking to the people
of that time under the old covenant. He knew when He came back a new covenant would be in effect previous to Him returning.

It says here "all the nations will be gathered before Him"... not just the Jews, but "all" the nations. Gentiles included. That means you and me.
Then He (Jesus) will separate these people into two groups. Jesus doesn't mention believers or non-believers here. Or maybe He does... Maybe what you do is what shows where your heart and true beliefs are.

The thing I notice about the story of the good Samaritan, and the story of the sheep and goats... just saying "I love you man" isn't enough. We need to do something to help these people when we can.
This almost always costs us something... time, money, effort, sweat, tears, time away from other things we would rather do, and maybe it costs us giving away some of our things to help others in need.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Jas 1:27; Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

This has that word in it.. "religion". Doesn't God hate religion? No He hates those who make a show of being religious. There is a difference.
James says this is true religion... then he gives us a great example. Even widows and orphans are our neighbors.

Jas 2:14; What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
Jas 2:15; If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
Jas 2:16; and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

One thing I notice in all three of these posts.. this isn't just a suggestion.. it's a requirement.

Luke 10:25; And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Luke 10:26; And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"
Luke 10:27; And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
Luke 10:28; And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE."

Matt 25:41; "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Matt 25:46; "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Jas 2:20; But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
Jas 2:24; You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Jas 2:26; For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

 

[Dave M]

cant really love your neighbor if you sit at home all the time can you??

Love is not to be kept for oneself it is to be given it takes another person.


this whole christian thing is to be done with fellowship not alone,

funny thing is when we start thinking of how we can serve other people, how we can make other people feel more comfortable, all our problems disappear. Serving others is the best thing for your own peace IMO

 

[Rockerduck]

I show love to my neighbors as best I can. I help as much as I can. Everyone on my street actually went out to dinner together. I said the blessing, and found out no one is a christian but they got to hear the word of God from me. We are all still friends.