My Daily Pause

Parable of the Good Samaritan – 1670 – Jan Wijnants (1632–1684)

This:

Love your neighbor

Equals this:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind

According to Luke 10:27, both are required to inherit eternal life. In fact in Matthew 22:39, it is worded quite clearly:

And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

It’s an astounding thought at first glance. But then – not really. The expectation is for Christians to be kind and loving to other people.

Here’s the Problem:

One of our goals is supposed to be to get people to heaven – to give them the same hope we have.

Collectively, we might need to do a better job at that. We will not win many people over for Christ being less than loving. A less than loving Christian, is not Christian at all.

Once we put ourselves out there, everyone is watching. They are going to make a judgment about our sincerity.

The kind of stuff that hurts us:

• Gossip – Remember what mother taught. Just say nice things about others.
• Inconsistency – Mood swings are no good.
• Unhappiness – The Bible says over and over again to rejoice
• Selfishness – that self-love is exactly the intensity we are to show toward others
• Dependability – When a neighbor calls on us, they need to hear “yes” more often. Being true to our word wouldn’t hurt either.

The Fix:

Nobody is perfect. It is unlikely that any of us will get to the point of winning over everyone we meet. We will get a good start down that path if we just clean up some of those hurtful things. My guess is if we work on these suggestions, we can build momentum to do even more:

• We have to stop being negative about others. The Bible has much to say about gossip and idle talk.
• Control that mood. Running hot and cold causes people to avoid us.
• Rejoice! Be happy. Take it from me – It’s a habit.
• Collect less stuff. Give more.
• Never go back on your word.

God loves us and expects us to return that love. Part of that love is loving others just as much.

What is the first thing you can do to contribute?

It is difficult to commit a sin that doesn’t hurt someone. Even the little sin we justify by saying it is only hurting ourselves will at some point effect another:

• Missing church? – You have deprived me of our fellowship
• Going off your diet? – You might deprive us of your earthly presence too soon
• Cheated on your taxes? – Someone will likely be deprived of some program or grant

Here’s how to make it easier to avoid these kinds of sins: We have to love others more. Paul reminds us of that in Romans 13:8-10. He lists off a few of “the big sins” as ones that we would never commit against a loved one, but the idea trickles all the way down to the “small” secret sins.

The Good Samaritan – Rembrandt – 1630

Loving everyone is tough. There are many that do a poor job of making themselves lovable, but we have to try and work through that. When we love someone, we wouldn’t even think of sinning against them. This is the point Paul s trying to drive home in Romans 13:9 – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” – even when you don’t think you can for those that “don’t deserve it.”

Who else said that? Jesus not only said those exact words in Matthew 22:39, but he said something else that was even more extraordinary – He referred this commandment to the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37) as being just like it!

To love your neighbor is loving God

As I leave you to consider this, I hope you will take a look at The Parable of the Good Samaritan for some insight into just what Jesus had in mind when he taught about everyone to love your neighbor.

Daily Bible reading for October 21

Psalm 81
1 Kings 14:1-20
Ezekiel 44
Romans 13

Murderers hate an honest person
and try to kill those who do right – Proverbs 29:10 NCV

This isn’t exactly a Proverb you’ll find in motivational literature, but think a minute about how angry the truth makes people.

John tells us this is the essence of why we are commanded to love one another (1 John 3:11-12) and looks to Cain as an example of what could happen. Maybe then it is good to occasionally think about the need to be a loving people from the opposite extreme. It is hard for evil thoughts to make way for the good once they have gotten into our daily routine.

Read all of 1 John 3 today and consider how thin the line between right and wrong is.

Daily Bible reading for June 25

Proverbs 29
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
Micah 4
Matthew 6:19-24

Loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39) might be the second greatest command, but it is also one of the toughest to follow. Between gossip, competition and jealousy there are plenty of temptations for people to work against us and each other.

It turns out that there is a way to rise above that, to gain the respect of others, to not be one that gets hurt:

First, don’t participate.

Second, practice Solomon’s basic wisdom for how to treat others:

Whenever you are able,
do good to people who need help.
If you have what your neighbor asks for,
don’t say, “Come back later.
I will give it to you tomorrow.”
Don’t make plans to hurt your neighbor
who lives nearby and trusts you.
Don’t accuse a person for no good reason;
don’t accuse someone who has not harmed you. – Proverbs 3:27-30 NCV

The Bible is full of instruction on getting along with people. If we’re not following it, it makes it difficult to save their soul!

Daily Bible reading for May 7

Proverbs 3:21-35
Deuteronomy 8:1-9:5
Hosea 4-5
Titus 1:5-16