Love my neighbor

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall

love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your

neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the

Prophets. - Matthew 22: 36-40

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” may be familiar to you, but what did Jesus mean

when he said those words? Let’s take a closer look.

The first four of the Ten Commandments show us how to love God, the last six show us

how to love others. That’s Jesus’ point — everything hinges on those two things. But

here’s the rub. We can’t even consider pursuing the “loving our neighbor” piece without

pursuing the “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with

all your mind” part also.

Our nature is sinful, selfish, and seeks to center our lives on ourselves and our own

ambitions. That is how the world around us operates. However, our faith in the triune

God turns that on its ear.

The Holy Spirit awakens our heart so we can understand the depth of God’s love for us

through Jesus. This inspires us to seek after and love God more. The more we know of

God, the more we love him and the more we love him, the greater we believe and hope

in his promises. The Lord Jesus, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives us a new

freedom to love as he loves. Paul the Apostle writes, "For freedom Christ has set us

free …. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an

opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:1,13).

Understanding that we are called to serve others moves us to be able to deny ourselves

and lay down our lives for others—to live sacrificially.

How does that work out in our daily lives? There are as many opportunities to show

love to your neighbor as there are people in need of love. Loving your neighbor might

mean helping with physical needs - transportation, meals or finances. Or you might be a

listening ear during a stressful time and then consistently pray for your neighbor.

God knows our neighbor’s needs, so it is important that we ask God in prayer, “How do