In Matthew 22:39, Jesus said “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
We are told to love our neighbors as ourselves and this is actually mandatory. Jesus didn’t say “love your neighbor if they’re kind” or “if they agree with you.”
He just said love your neighbor and that’s the person next door, the colleague who annoys you, the stranger at the store, the one with different politics, faith, or background. This means, love isn’t limited to our circle. It extends to out proximity.
Are we able to go by this mandatory command? We’re pretty good at feeding ourselves when we’re hungry, defending ourselves when we’re wronged, opposed or criticized.
We let go or easily forgive ourselves when we mess up. But do we do same to others? To love our neighbors as ourselves, Jesus actually command us to give these same care to others. Not more than ourselves, not less but equal. It also means we must do unto others what we want them to do to us.
Who’s your neighbor right now? He’s unfortunately the one you avoid, the one you judge, and the one you’ve written off.
We are not given the laxity to pick and choose who deserves our love. We are commanded to love our neighbor as we love ourselves because God first loved us.
We easily would act for ourselves but we are mandated to put ourselves in the shoes of others in all situations and help them as we would have done to ourselves in similar situations.
Without understanding, this is a very difficult call but if understanding and the help of God, we can do it.
Source: newsthemegh.com