Guiding Light!
Love your neighbor!
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' ; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Luke 10:27
This is the greatest commandment given to us! It is mentioned nine times in the Bible, more than any other scripture. There is a reason for this, God wanted to emphasize His point. If we have this kind of agape love we will live in harmony with one another. As you look up the other verses in the Bible, take time to study the text before and after to get a full understanding of God's purpose of saying this so many times. Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8.
So then we may ask "who is my neighbor?" Jesus has an answer for this very question in the gospel of Luke; "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. `Look after him,' he said, `and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:29b-37
This not only applies to the ones near to us or in our circle of friends, but to everyone we may come across in our walk in life. We never know when God may put someone in our path to test us of our love towards one another. `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:40
Now this should make us stand up and take notice. When I do this for the least of my brothers I am doing it for Jesus. Wow, now that makes me think twice about how I may act towards a brother or sister. I sure wouldn't act anyway but honorable towards Jesus, so I better act the same way to others. As we talked about love last week, it is an attitude not a feeling. With that in mind let us all commit today to be conscientiously aware of our thoughts and actions and develop an attitude of Christ.
Heavenly Father, it is our prayer today to become more like Jesus in our attitude and love towards one another. Teach us, guide us and set it in our heart Father to take your instruction to heart and be doers of your word and not just hearers. Forgive us Heavenly Father for our weaknesses and shortcomings, we will try harder day by day to be doers of what we learn. Thank you Lord for being patient with us as we continue to grow in grace, thank you Lord for your grace and the love you have for us sinners. We are blessed to be called a child of God and we will strive to be a more obedient child today......in Jesus name we pray....amen
In Christ's Service,
Kenny Millhouse
kenny@guidinglightministry.com
http://guidinglightministry.com
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