Yeshua (Hebrew name for Jesus) told us that the two most important commandments are to love God and love one another.
28One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30AND 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.’ 31“The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
What is love? How do I demonstrate love to God? We touched on this topic in a prior article, What Is Love? How Do We Love God?
Today we will focus on how we love our neighbors as ourselves . There are many misconceptions. Do we love others by “accepting their sin and telling them they do not need to change anything?” By all means no. Jesus, and all the prophets that have come in the name of Jehovah, come with a message of repentance. This means we are called to change our behaviors and turn our ways to God’s ways.
17From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
So if it is not by accepting everyone how they are, then how do we love our neighbors? Yeshua calls us even to love those who hate us. We bless even those who curse us. We pray for others who mistreat us. Treat others how we want to be treated ourselves. Be merciful.
27“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29“Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33“If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. 38“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
Do not get confused by the language “Do not judge”. It is confusing to many. We are called to discern right from wrong and do right and avoid wrong. We are called to help others understand what God says is right and wrong and we do not endorse or support their doing wrong. However, we do not need to condemn them. We are all sinners. Let us be merciful and reach out to others in love, to the extent they will accept it. Let us pray for them.
What about loving fellow disciples and followers of Christ? We are called to a very high bar… we are to love one another as Yeshua has loved us!
12“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14“You are My friends if you do what I command you.
We are called to love our enemies and even be willing to lay down our lives for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. What are some fairly sensible instructions for how to love in the day to day living? Jehovah provides lots of material in the Bible for that as well. I will share but one additional example here.
4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
The Bible is filled with examples of how to love one another and love God. These two are essentially the core principles upon which all the law and the prophets are based. Everything else helps us understand how to love God and love one another. We should study the Bible and apply God’s teachings within across every aspect of our lives.
34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
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