Love Thy Neigh…bor
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:36-40
Have you ever had someone in your life that is hard to love? Maybe they are difficult to be around, and you struggle in your relationship with them.
For some of us, it could be someone in our family. For others, it could be a coworker, a friend, or someone you just see around your community. Regardless of who it is, you instantly feel stress and anxiety when you are around them. It seems that they can often bring doom and gloom into our lives and surround us with negativity.
Trust me, I’ve been here, and I am not always perfect at knowing how to respond. Lucky for me and you, Jesus gives us a very clear and simple answer. He says to love your neighbor as yourself.
If I’m being real, this is extremely hard to do at times! As humans, we might think those people don’t deserve our love or time. Or maybe we think we are better than them. I’ve come to debunk those wrong beliefs because, in God’s eyes, we are not better than our fellow brothers or sisters, and we surely are not more deserving of love than them.
One piece of wisdom from God’s Word that has helped me see those difficult people in a new light is the first part of the verse above. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” You see, when we choose to love God first, everything else flows out freely. Our perspective changes and our hearts are softened.
It’s as if God’s love is flowing out of our hearts and into others. Suddenly, loving difficult people becomes easier, and we find ourselves showing more grace and compassion to them.
I’m not saying it’s always easy, but through God’s word and loving Him first, difficult people start to look a lot less difficult. You start to see them through the eyes of God, and they become a lot more beautiful!
Next time you find yourself around someone who is negative, difficult, or causes you stress, ask God to give you the compassion to respond in love and the grace to see them through His eyes.
Choose to treat them the way you want to be treated (Luke 6:31), and love them unconditionally, just as your Heavenly Father loves you!
Journal Prompt:
Think of the difficult people in your life. What are some ways you can show them love? Now try it, and record what their response was to you. Don’t forget to pray for them, as well.
Ref: Luke 6:32, Luke 6:27-29
