Tuesday, August 31: Who is your neighbor?

Daily, Mr. Rogers serenaded the television audience with his personally-written theme song, “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Though Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian minister, he likely would not have topped my list of neighbors of choice. Yet we rarely get the opportunity to place our best friends on that list. Having endured neighbors who have loudly partied until the middle of the night, currently, one of my neighbors is my greatest challenge. In the last year, I cannot think of one action she has accomplished that has not been 100% self-serving. Yet God’s instructions to us as believers are simple to interpret:


So he answered and said, “’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
Luke 10:27


These are the two commandments that Jesus highlighted in summation of the Old Testament Law. In Exodus, the first five commandments instruct us concerning a righteous relationship with God, while the last five commandments instruct us concerning that correct relationship with others. Notice that this love of God begins in the heart and ends in the mind, completing the circuit of who we are. Each part of us needs to love the Lord, not a small part of us! The sequential order of these instructions is not accidental, as until we have the right relationship with God, we cannot correctly restore relationships with others. Yet there are believers who put all of the emphasis on their relationship with the Lord, forgetting about the remainder of His commandment.


If God did not desire for us to demonstrate His love to the sinners on this earth, He would remove us as soon as we turned to Him! Yet that is not what occurs. Instead, He desires for us to love others in the same manner that He loves us. Interestingly, the verse in Luke does not tell us to love our neighbors if they deserve it, or if they are really sweet Christians. Instead, Jesus reminds us to love our neighbors in the same manner that we love ourselves!


With man’s most common sin being pride, love of self is not a rarity in our world. God wants us to have a sacrificial love for our neighbors. Would you put yourself in harm’s way to save your neighbor? Would I? It is natural to love those who love you, but the greater calling is to love those who do not love you! This applies inside the church as easily as it occurs outside of the church! Certainly, there are people who have personalities that push our buttons. As difficult as it may be to like them, we are called to love them! Once again, it is a matter of trust. If God chose them for His family, who are we to question His motive? Sometimes, we lose perspective by thinking they don’t deserve our love. Yet we don’t deserve God’s love, though He graciously chose to give it to us!

Our challenge is to love those who despise us. Who is the greatest example of this behavior? Jesus! Reflect on that sinless Man, who endured the most humiliating and painful of deaths in punishment for the sins of man. Mocked and ridiculed, He remained lovingly concerned for them even unto death. “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do!” When a person is a slave to sin, he serves Satan blindly. Sin is not a choice, but a way of life to the unsaved. If your neighbor is a captive of the great deceiver, shower them with the abundant love of a Savior, who is the only One to save them from that bondage! That journey might begin with your sacrificial love!


43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:43-46