02/11/2021
𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫. Whether you’re familiar with the Bible or not, you’ve probably heard this phrase. This command was first written in Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament, and comes right after we read that we shouldn’t seek revenge or hold a grudge against people.
When we think about our neighbors, in the literal sense, we think it’s someone who actually lives next door to us. In order to know what neighbor truly means, we have to go back to the original Hebrew text of Leviticus 19:18. The word for neighbor is plesion, and it means friend or any other person. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!
The argumentative family member
The friendly man at the grocery store
The frustrating lady down the street
The sweet child in another country
The person who voted differently than you
That’s quite a lofty command, isn’t it? But, it’s essential—so much so that Jesus made it the second most important command!
“𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵?” 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, “‘𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.’ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵: ‘𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.’ 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸 𝟸𝟸:𝟹𝟼-𝟹𝟿 𝘕𝘊𝘝
It’s quite a challenging command, and even feels a bit unattainable. It might appear more realistic if the verse said, “Hey, love your neighbor when they’re being nice to you and when everything is going great. But if they upset you or do something to annoy you, then you don’t have to love them. You get a pass.” 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.
So, how do we actually love our neighbors? 𝗪𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝. Loving God first means that we receive His love for us, because He loved us first.
