Luke 10:27, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
Generally speaking, a neighbor is a person who lives next door, or in our general area of residency. Or it may be any person connected with us by the bonds of humanity. Christian love require that we should consider all people as our neighbors.
In the time of our Lord, the Pharisees had limited the meaning of the word neighbor to those of their own nation, and to their own personal friends. The idea was promoted that to hate your enemies (foreigners) was not breaking the law, their thinking, anyone who was not an Israelite was considered lower than a dog.
Matthew 5:43, Jesus said, “ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.” Jesus responded to that line of thinking with, “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
In the following verses, the LORD is saying that He is a neighbor, sees and knows everything, and that He is not an absent or distant God.”
Psalms 85:9, “Surely His (God’s) salvation is nigh them (kin, or neighbors) that fear Him.”
Psalms 145:18, “The LORD is nigh unto all them = (kin or neighbor) that call upon Him.”
Jeremiah 23:23, “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?”
Which of the following two is easier for you?
“To love God?” or,
“To love your neighbor?”
More often than not, in our helter-skelter society, people pay little attention to, or give little consideration toward Lord Jesus, and the word He left us. Few show any urgency to find Him, much less have a deep convicting love for Him. There may be moments when we may reflect on His person, goodness and blessings, and in these quite moments of reflection, we may even express some form of love for Him, showing a desire to know Him more intimately. But these moments are usually fleeting, and a return to our normal thinking usually prevails.
Not having a deep love and conviction for the Lord usually translates to not loving your neighbors even more. Loving our neighbor as we love yourself seems to be a vastly higher mountain to climb. At times it seems to be an impossible command, especially for those who live in a large city, the inner city, or tenements. Under these conditions, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to loving, or to even know your neighbor.
Question; Has God given us a commandment that can we cannot keep? As for myself, I find it practically impossible to love bad neighbors, and especially evil, corrupt, drunken, drugged-up people. Under most conditions, I avoid them altogether, except with a casual “hello” or “how are you?”
When gangs are trying to kill others for neighborhood power, or race, religion, or because of political belief, the usual thinking is for revenge, or some form of quick justice. I find it difficult to extend any type of love for liars, false witnesses, thieves, rapists, child molesters, murders, etc. So, what to do?
Most of the neighbors I have had in the past and now, pretty much keep to themselves. They are nice enough people, but are usually in a hurry, and find little if any time to get acquainted with their neighbors. For the most part we never get to know each other. In the rare moments when they have a little time, most refuse to engage in any form of conversation concerning God, or politics. Therefore, I assume they are not Christians, or if they are, they keep their religion to themselves.
Over the years I have had neighbors with barking dogs who refuse any reasonable request to do anything about them. Others are continually arguing with, or screaming at their children. Neighborhood teens run wild, use foul language, and are disrespectful to the elderly.
These teens may damage property in the neighborhood, drink, do drugs, or play their music to loud. In our society, many teens and adults are Leary of or even disrespectful of the law, their bosses, their friends and at times certain family members. Graffiti is everywhere, broken glass and trash litter our streets, parks, sidewalks and highways, and violent crime is running rampant throughout the nation.
With all this present in our society, how can God expect us to love our neighbors?
Now, the real question may be, “Are we to love this type of neighbor? Are there any Scriptures that advise us to avoid neighbors like this, and not to deal with them?
Proverbs 4:14-15, “Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.” Can a man place fire to his chest and not be burnt?
1 Corinthians 15:33, “Be not deceived: evil communications (evil company) corrupt good manners (habits.)” Or, bad company good morals do corrupt.
There is an old Proverb among the Rabbi’s that goes like this,
“There were two dry logs of wood and one green log; but the dry logs burn’s up the green log.” This Proverb is saying that those who keep the company of evil people, will soon be as the green log, burnt up.
Proverbs 5:3-4-5-8, “The lips of a strange woman (an immoral woman) drop as an honeycomb (drip honey) and her mouth is smoother than oil (her promises are deceitful). Her end is bitter as wormwood, her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house.”
Because Scriptures cannot and do not contradict themselves, to love your neighbor as yourself, means something quite different then to make friendships or companion with those who are evil, quarrel, fight, or have no desire to know, or love God.
So, who is it that we are to love? How does the Lord explain this dilemma?
Luke 10:30 to 37, Jesus tells a parable to a lawyer about a man who had been robbed and beaten by thieves, and how a priest and Levite passed by without helping him, as he lay injured in the road. Finally, a poor Samaritan (half Jew) came along and helped the injured man.
Jesus asked the lawyer, “Who do you think the injured man thought was his neighbor?” The lawyer replied, “it was the man who had pity on him.” Jesus then said, “Go, and do thou likewise.”
Now, let’s reconsider those we call bad neighbors. They are only your neighbor in the sense they live close by. These can only be considered your neighbor in the sense of the Gospel; if they will hear the word of God, or acknowledge a good deed done for them, or to someone else.
If you attempt to minister to them and they refuse to hear, that neighbor is not worthy of your time. We are told to depart out of that house, and to shake the very dust from off our feet, this will be a testimony against them.
If they use vile language, are rude, argue, drink heavely, or breaking the law in any way, you would be breaking Scripture if you were to keep company with them. On the other hand, if they need help, are sick, or in some stressful condition, you would be obedient to Scripture if you offered them assistance.
We may stop for a moment and ask your neighbor, “How are you?” Or if they desire to talk with you, take a few minutes and be a good listener. This would give evidence that you do love your neighbor.
Would we not all desire others to act civilized if the tables were turned? If you are a married man, raising a young family, and have a job that keeps you on a tight budget, it would be difficult for you to help anyone financially, because you may have nothing to give.
So how would a poor man practice this commandment to love their neighbors? If there were an elderly couple in the neighborhood, you may offer to do some yard work, home repairs, run them to the doctor’s office, pick up a prescription, or run to the grocery store. If you are handy, and your neighbor is doing something he is not familiar with, give him a hand. If there was a young couple with a young child, you could offer to baby sit, so they could have an evening out. For every case, there is a solution.
You may be that person who has been given one talent in this life. What you do with it, will be your decision. Many will bury it, and few will use it. We have all heard the saying, “where there’s a will, there is a way.”
For the Christian who is poor, a situation will be put before you that will test the use of your one talent. You may take a moment from your busy day and give a kind word to someone who may need encouragement, or is just lonely. You may pray with someone, or be a good example to another. We shall all be tested in this area.
The old woman who gave all she had to the church, was commended by the Lord for her generosity. It was a gift from her heart. Her few pennies were worth more to the Lord than all that the rich had given. She will be rewarded a thousand-fold.
Romans 13:10, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is fulfilling the law.” Love produces the desired effect, and an added security against any willful injury, deception or fraud toward a neighbor.
This is Scriptures in a nutshell, so simple a child can understand it, so easy we can put it to memory, and so comprehensive as to embrace all possible cases. In its rawest form, it is unchangeable. Can our God require from us anything less, or in its substance anything else?
In time past, present and future, this law of loving thy neighbor belongs to each and every one of us, “To love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Phil LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com