Love your neighbor.
Likely all of us believe this to be the right thing to do, and aspire to it, but what does it really mean to love your neighbor? What does it look like? What exactly is love, anyway? Who is my neighbor? Loving our neighbor is a sentiment that everyone believes is "good" and "right," but what does Scripture have to say about it? How can I put God's Word into practice regarding this command?
Stephen Eckert, part of the teaching team at Rockhills, taught this week on these topics and answered these questions. Are you willing to dive into the depths of who your neighbor is and how to love them?
INVITATION: Many confuse love with a feeling. Turns out, Love is a verb. It is an action word and it is part of what it means to follow Christ and live a Christian life. Join us this week as we unpack all this.
Monday: Matthew 22:36-40: Jesus calls this the greatest commandment. Rockhills incorporates it into their mission statement of "Love God; love others, helping people find and follow Jesus." What does it mean to love God? There are four words in the Greek for love: 1) Eros = romantic; 2) storge = instinctual (natural); 3) Phileo = friendship; 4) Agape = perfect, unconditional.
The fourth definition - perfect and unconditional and unchanging love - is used in the verses we are reading today. No matter how you feel or what is going on, this is how we are called to love God and love our neighbor: perfectly and unconditionally. What is your definition of love? Have you ever considered that how you love God and love your "neighbor" may not be in accordance with scripture? How does that make you feel?
Tuesday: John 14:15 & Psalm 78:7 & I John 5:3: Loving perfectly sounds impossible. In fact, these verses also use the "Agape" (unconditional) version of the original language for love. How do we show this kind of love toward God? According to today's verses, we love God by keeping His commands. Have you ever thought to pray for God to help you love him and keep his commands more? Do you think this might then help you love your neighbor?
Wednesday: John 21:15-16: What does it then look like to love God with Agape love? As we strive to keep his commands, how might we show this? What commands are important to keep?
After Jesus was crucified and risen, He had an intense conversation with Peter - the very one who had betrayed him. Examine the words "love" in these verses. Jesus asked Peter the first two times if he agape loved Him (unconditional). Peter replied using the word phileo (friendship). Jesus asked a third time if Peter loved him and changed his word to phileo. Peter was hurt and replied, once again, that "I love you," using phileo.
There was no penance or penalty or blame for Peter after his denial, only a message to "feed my sheep." To pay it forward. Jesus was telling Peter that if he loved God then that love would manifest itself my loving his neighbor.
Sometimes we stall in our Christian life because we don't feel worthy after all the times we, too, "deny" Christ. You are invited today to take some time and imagine Jesus simply responding to you to "feed my sheep." What if the very thing you feel unqualified to do for Jesus is the very thing that will be healing for you?
Thursday: Luke 10:25-29: Who is my neighbor? Stephen pointed out that the first person in this parable was a priest. Priests were experts in religion and highly esteemed. The second person was a Levite. They were not quite as highly esteemed as Priests, but very well respected. The third person was a Samaritan. They were scorned and despised - especially by Jews. When Jesus asked the expert in the law: "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers" , he answered "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus simply said, "Go and do likewise." How are you at showing mercy? From this parable we learn that Jesus doesn't mean we only show mercy toward those who look like and who believe like us or dresses like us. It might mean to show mercy toward someone we despise. Are you willing to follow Jesus and obey his commands even to that level or is there a limit to your obedience? How might you take that into prayer today? Stephen presented this definition for the question of "who is my neighbor?"
Any other human being who needs me to show them the love God told me to show them.
Is God inviting you to show love to someone today or this week?
Friday: I Timothy 1:15-16 & Acts 4:13: Perfection or expertise is not required in order to demonstrate the love of Christ to your neighbor. In fact, we show others forgiveness by serving.....warts and all. Have you ever used lack of expertise or feeling of "I'm not good enough" as an excuse to not do what God calls us to do?
Saturday: I Corinthians 3:5-7: All that is required from you and from me is the willingness to follow the commands of Christ. The results are up to God. Are you willing?