Five Ways to Love Your Neighbor
Daily Old Testament Reading: Leviticus 18-22
Daily Focus Passage: Leviticus 19
Jesus called believers to love the Lord first and foremost and to love others as the self. This statement did not exist just in command of Christ but also appears in the Old Testament as part of the given law. In Leviticus 19:18, Moses provided the people with the law of the Lord that commanded them to love others; when we consider this command, we must understand the critical attributes of loving others well.
REFUSE TO HOLD A GRUDGE
When we do not take caution, we allow unforgiven and undealt with dynamics to form a situation where we hold a grudge against another individual. When we have a grievance, we set our lives at odds against someone else and allow bitterness to grab hold of our life. Holding a grudge exists against the will of the Lord and, as a result, is a sin. The Lord commanded Moses to share with the people that one must never hold a grudge against someone else. Thus, today we must strive to recognize the moments when grudges attempt to sneak in and seek to put them away.
LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY
The call to love others centers on the ability to love unconditionally. Unconditional love centers on loving others not because they deserve it, earn it, or desire it but because of the Lord in one’s life. When we love unconditionally, we overlook the issues in someone’s life and love them completely. Unconditional love does not mean accepting and condoning a life living out sin but loving the individual. When we love unconditionally, we demonstrate the love extended to us by the Lord. How are you loving others today?
THINK OF THEM PROPERLY
The call to love our neighbors means obtaining a proper perspective concerning others. Far too often, we attempt to have a relationship with others based on the benefits we receive and seek relationships with people who agree with us. Yet, when we seek to live faithfully in the Lord, we must think of others more highly than we think of the self. This belief means that we seek and desire to serve others more than we desire to be served by others. When you consider others, do you want to know what you receive from the relationship, or do you desire to understand how you can serve others in a relationship?
EXTEND GRACE AND MERCY
When we love others faithfully, we live in a manner that extends grace and mercy toward others. When we extend grace and mercy, we live in a way that gives others what they do not deserve or earn. We love not because they deserve it. We serve not because they earn it. Yet, at the same time, we must withhold what they do deserve. This act of mercy flows from a heart of love that seeks forgiveness and battles the threat of holding a grudge against others. How effectively do you extend grace and mercy to others?
REPRESENT CHRIST FAITHFULLY
When believers follow the command of the Lord to love our neighbors, we exemplify Christ. We represent the Kingdom of God and point people to Jesus. We show how Jesus extends grace and mercy. We show how Jesus loves unconditionally. When we live and love in this way, people receive a glimpse of the Lord, and we can share the truth of the gospel with them and invite them to experience the unconditional love of God and the mercy and grace extended from him.
When we consider others, how well do we extend love to them? Is bitterness growing because you continue to grudge others instead of loving and forgiving? Are you thinking of others more highly than the self and seeking to extend grace and mercy to others? Are you living in a manner that demonstrates Christ to others?
