Hello, Neighbor
By Jennifer Stasak, Associate Director of Editorial Content, Marketing
Post date: March 16, 2019
I met my best friend on a middle school bus.
I’d just moved to Florida at the beginning of eighth grade and was still reeling from the transition. I stared out the window of the school bus, tears in my eyes, when a quiet voice interrupted my thoughts. I vaguely recognized the girl who spoke. She said she noticed that I was in her chorus class and that we lived a few streets apart. She asked to sit next to me, and I obliged.
Little did I know that would be the beginning of an almost 20-year friendship. My best friend and I don’t share the same ethnicity. We don’t have the same beliefs. And we pursued vastly different majors in college.
But when my best friend looked at me on that bus, she saw more than just a lonely girl — she saw a neighbor to love.
We’re told in Scripture to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). God says that the second command — to love others — is equally as important as the first (v. 39). Our obedience to God and his commands flows out of a deep love for him (1 John 5:3). We obey God because we know we were loved by him first (1 John 4:10).
But we can often forget that loving our neighbor is just as important as loving God. It’s not an option; it’s a command. And it’s a command with an intended purpose. Paul writes to the Galatians: “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (5:14, NLT). And he writes again in Romans 13:10: “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (NIV). Love fulfills the law!
We’re commanded to love others because we’ve been loved by God (John 13:34) and because we know that every person we encounter is made in his image (Genesis 1:27). There are no exceptions to this rule. Jesus does not give us an “out,” excusing us from loving people who think, vote, believe or worship differently than us.
Loving our neighbor is as simple as looking, feeling and then acting. First, we must see someone the way Jesus sees them. Then, we need to feel compassion toward them.
Only after we’ve done the first two things can we can act in love.
Questions for Reflection:
What “neighbor” has recently shown you kindness and love?
Why is it important that God’s definition of “neighbor” includes people we’ve never met and those who are different from us?
What has God taught you this year about loving others?
Don’t forget to dive deeper into what it means to love others through our devotional.
Para leer el devocional en español oprima aquí.