Love Your Neighbor

But you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18b

One thing about sharing in a blog, especially one that deals with faith, is that everything I deal with gets plastered across the internet. The things I share with you are things that God is working on in my life. As I sit and read my Bible in the mornings while everyone else sleeps, God speaks so clearly in my heart. Sometimes I hear that still, small voice and others times, the Scriptures are screaming at me.

Today it seemed as if everything I read kept saying to me to love others. One of the things I’ve heard my whole life growing up was how sweet I am. But I’m not sure that’s an accurate description of me. I am a type A personality who likes things done a certain way. Unfortunately, I can be quick to judge others if I don’t think they’re doing something “right”. I also have a very low tolerance for laziness and stupidity. I sound horrible even as I type those words out. God really has his hands full with me!

Proverbs 24:17-18 says, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from Him.” You see, it’s not up to us to judge others or even try to fix them. It is our job to love them and show them the love of Christ.

Judge not, that you be not judged. Matthew 7:1

My dad is the pastor at our church, and very frequently he shares Matthew 22:37-40 which says, “Jesus said to him, ‘ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.'”

The first commandment is easy. I mean God has done so much for me. He is amazing! He went to the cross for you and me, and He continues to bless my life everyday. But then we get to the second commandment. He didn’t know my neighbor, as my dad would say. And isn’t that so true for so many of us? Jesus even says in Luke 6:27-28 to love our enemies! Wow! That’s huge.

But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. Luke 6:27-28

God calls us to be different than this world. One way that we are different is loving those who are around us, and not just those that are easy to love but even those that aren’t so easy to love. I know I have to make a conscious effort everyday to love those that are hard to love. I also know that I can do that through the power of the a Holy Spirit. I pray today that I can show the love of Jesus to everyone I meet. I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit that I am changed so that I can truly show love to others.