Monday, January 07, 2008

Love Your Neighbor...

Jesus said......'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Luke 10:27

What does loving my neighbor as myself look like? I believe it has to do with how I treat others, not necessarily how I feel about others. When I interact with someone, do I treat them as I would treat myself under the same circumstances?

The last six of the ten commandments give us a good starting point from which to begin in determining what a life dedicated to the above would look like.
-Honor your father and mother.
-Do not murder.
-Do not commit adultery.
-Do not steal.
-Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
-Do not covet what is your neighbors.

Jesus expands on these in the sermon on the mount in Mattew chapter 5 and following. Some excerpts:
-He compares anger at one's brother to murder (5:21,22).
-He compares lustful imagination to adultery (5:27, 28).
-He tells us not to resist an evil person (turn the other cheek 5:39).
-He tells us to give to those who ask (5:42).
-He tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us(5:44).

Not always easy.

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