March 2, 2022
The Royal Law
My beloved child, loving your neighbor as yourself is not always an easy thing to do, but God made it one of the Ten Commandments. Love your neighbor as yourself is in the Bible eight times in both Old and New Testaments so it must be important to God. He tied loving your neighbor as yourself to loving Him, (God) with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and he says, there I no greater command than these two scriptures. (Mark 12:30-31) James calls it the ‘royal law!’ (James 2:8-9) It sounds pretty, and it is when you obey it. He knew it would be a challenge. However, it is to our benefit to love on purpose and be intentional about it. First, you need to know you are loved. God first loved you and gave His only Son for our sins. (1 John 4:10) You are the object of God’s affection. God loves you deeply and unconditionally. He is the source of our love. You can’t give love if you don’t receive love. You can’t give what you don’t have. It’s important that you love yourself. The closer you get to God the easier it is to love not only ourselves but for others. Don’t confuse loving yourself with dying to self and denying self. You don’t need to destroy yourself. The Father loves you so much that He gave! (John 17:23) Love protects. (Philippians 2:4) Love covers. (1 Peter 4:8)
1. Loving your neighbor means receiving God’s love. (1 John 4:10
2. Loving your neighbor means loving ourselves as well. (John 17:23)
3. Loving your neighbor means showing grace. (Philippians 2:13)
4. Loving your neighbor means acting with compassion. (Ephesians 4:31)
5. Loving your neighbor means sharing in their joys and sorrows. (Romans 12:15)
6. Loving your neighbor means speaking kindly to them. (John 1:1)
7. Loving your neighbor means serving them. (Matthew 20:28)
8. Loving your neighbor means forgiving. (Matthew 18, Ephesians 1:4)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts always have hope, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
When Jesus asked, ‘who is my neighbor?’ He shared the story of the Good Samaritan. In essence, He is commanding us to love others the way we love ourselves and do unto others as we would have them do unto us. (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31) A heart full of love and full of compassion is moved to help others. Forgiving our neighbor is a big deal if we want to live a life of freedom, wholeness, and blessing. If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. (Matthew 6:15) Today I challenge you to go love your neighbors
