“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: 27 NIV).
Jesus
told a lawyer this when he asked Jesus how he could inherit eternal life. I
believe out of all of the above loving your neighbor as yourself is the most
difficult. Let’s face it. Our neighbors aren’t always polite, kind, and loving.
So how do your respond to your neighbors who are not so friendly? Do you love
those who treat you badly? Jesus was pretty adamant about the fact that we are
to love our enemies and to bless those who curse us. (Luke 6:27-29) Kind of
hard isn’t it? Jesus' answer is pretty cut and dry and should be followed. You
are to love your neighbor as yourself no matter what. But you see if you love
the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind then you will want to
please Him by showing others His love.
After Jesus tells the lawyer to love his
neighbor, he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus proceeded to tell the man
about the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan was the only man to show mercy to a man
who was beaten and robbed. Jesus told the lawyer to go and do likewise. Mercy
is exactly what Jesus does for us when He forgives us of our sins. Just as He
forgives us we are ordered by Him to forgive others and show mercy. It is all
about the fact that Jesus died for your neighbor just as He did for you. So it
is so very important for you to love everyone just as Jesus said, even those
who aren’t easy to love.
They need to know that
Jesus is all about mercy and love and the only way they can see it is through
your acts of kindnesses. I know that this is very difficult, especially when
your neighbor is nasty and cruel, but this is an order from the Lord and
something that can not be dismissed by ignoring the situation. Pray and ask God
for wisdom and strength to show love to those who do you wrong. You will be
blessed by it.
Dear Lord,
We know that you want us
to love our neighbors as ourselves. Sometimes that is difficult, but we know
that through your strength we can accomplish anything. Help us to show mercy
and love to those who are blind to your love.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
