“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-31).
Loving others is something we all know we should do, but since the beginning there has been a struggle to really practice what we preach. Jesus taught it clearly through the way he spoke with the woman at the well, calmed the sea for his disciples, provided food for the five thousand, healed the woman with the issue of blood, and over and over cared for the person right in front of him.
We see God’s mercy and love poured out in the garden when Adam and Eve disobeyed His instruction. He could have destroyed them completely and shamed them for giving into the lies of Satan, but instead God clothed them and provided their physical needs (Genesis 3:21-22).
Though we often like to think of our neighbors as the people who live next door or down the street, the Bible teaches that our neighbors are the people all around us. We pass them at the park, in the grocery store, at church, and on the highway. Yet so often we miss the opportunities to love them well because we don’t look at them as neighbors.
We learn in the very first book of the Bible who our neighbor is. It’s the one who we see and know today. Adam and Eve were God’s neighbors. When Jesus came to earth, we watch him walk and talk with common people and each time He chooses to look at them with eyes of neighborly kindness and love.
What would happen if we all loved each other the way Jesus loved others? He did not just teach about loving, he exemplified it.
Imagine with me – in light of a few encounters Jesus had – how we can follow in Jesus footsteps and love our neighbors well:
In Matthew 8:2-3, 13, and 15 we find Jesus healing a leper, the Centurion’s servant and Peter’s mother-in-law. Lepers were outcasts. Disease meant stay away. Fever caused major fear. Imagine the last major flu outbreak and all the concern of hand washing, mask wearing and quarantining. While we need to take precaution to protect ourselves and our families, let’s not look at illness as a wedge, but rather a pathway to love. Think of the ones who suffer with cancer, loss, and disease that cripples and causes them to be homebound or stuck for months in a hospital bed. Don’t forget about them. Jesus would have taken the time to love them. They are our neighbors.
In Matthew 8:26, 31-32 Jesus calms the sea for the disciples and casts devils out of a possessed man. We can all agree we aren’t going to lift our hand and calm the waters or pull a devil from the chest of a possessed person, but what we can do is look on our neighbors with love. This means whether the anxiety is small or big, we choose to pray and offer help any way we can. We don’t ignore the epidemic of mental illness and we don’t avoid the hurting hearts of families who wrestle with these struggles. What we can do is show them love by showing up and praying for the hurting ones. They are our neighbors.
In Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus instructs the disciples to share the gospel. Just as many were primed and ready to hear the truth then, many are starving for the truth today. It’s up to us to share the good news of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. Jesus was the greatest example of love when He gave His life on the cross for you, me and the entire world. And now we have a responsibility to share this love with those who don’t know Jesus yet. They are our neighbors.
In Matthew 12:46-50 Jesus teaches the disciples that God’s family are those who choose to follow God. Unfortunately in our so called “Christian” circles there is much division. Jesus did not teach this kind of misconduct. He always taught unity in the body of Christ. If we are to love our neighbors well, we must love other believers well. They are our neighbors.
In Matthew 14:19-21 Jesus feeds the 5,000. In Matthew 15:32 Jesus feeds the 4,000. Jesus often met the physical needs of others. While we may not be able to turn a few fish and loaves of bread into a feast to feed thousands, we can feed the ones in front of us. When you see a need, meet it. The ones we pass by and pretend not to see, they are our neighbors.
In Matthew 19:13-14 Jesus teaches the disciples the value of children. Children are the next generation. They are impressionable and valuable. We have a great responsibility to teach them what true love looks like. The world is sending them bold messages about love. And we must speak and act on truth. By offering the love of God and taking the time to invest in the life of a child, we are setting up the next generation for success. There is a child in your life that needs to hear what God’s Word says about love. Children are not a distraction from the mission, they are the mission. They are our neighbors.
In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus teaches the people that loving God is the foundation of loving others. When we love God with our heart and our mind and our soul, loving others is an outpouring of what we have received from God Himself. We cannot love our neighbors like we ought to, if our love is not built on the foundation of loving God first. While God is much higher than our neighbor, He laid the foundation of love by sending Jesus to die on the cross for you and me. When we realize the love we have received, we begin to realize the love we ought to share. Who is your neighbor?
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:16-21).
Micah Maddox is a women’s event speaker, Bible teacher, and author of Anchored In: Experience a Power-Full Life in a Problem-Filled World. She is passionate about helping women find purpose, peace, and calm in our chaotic world. Micah is on the Proverbs31 First5 Writing Team. As a pastor’s wife, mother of three, and foster mom, she contributes her time to her family and local church serving as a women’s ministry leader. Micah loves to give a voice to hurting hearts and writes to the one who needs encouragement. You can connect with her at micahmaddox.com.
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
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