-Strength fofe Today-"What Does It Mean to Truly Love Your Neighbor?" - Mark 12: 28-31

 The word love is an action word, which means that it’s a decision of the will. And it’s depleted of:  

·       Feelings, and

·       Emotions.

     It’s not a feeling, and it doesn’t have anything to do with liking another person. It’s a decision of the will. In other words, you’re declaring that your heart’s desire is united with the pleasure of God will, which is love. One of the biggest problems facing humanity today, is that of the compelling and continuous struggle with the flesh – 1 John 2:16. The question is often asked, “How can I love somebody if I don’t even like them?” Well, you really can.  I’ve discovered down through the years that to truly love requires:

·       Fairness,

·       Honesty and

·       Respect

      For those whose values may differ from yours. This is done by you keeping your word, for out of this, you’re demonstrating to your neighbor that you are concerned, and that you care about them. But that’s not all. It is one thing to show others that you socially are concerned about their well-being; however, your greater concern should be about their eternal destiny. Therefore, the life cycle of believers should be about unity, rather than that of division. And what’s sad is that this their gutter-level evangelism is being expressed so that:

·       Instead of loving our neighbor, we usually label them.

·       Instead of caring for them, we criticize them, and

·       Instead of getting next to them, we often display the triple “R’s we

1.    We react,

2.    We resent, and

3.    We run from them.

       Instead of embracing our neighbor, we develop religious of social ways of, isolating them completely. Our call is that we become creative rather than traditional. By looking for ways of reaching out and encouraging our neighbors.  

    So fight the old urge to reject and criticize, and go out of your way to show that you really care. Because, loving your neighbor as yourself also means knowing that you have loved them enough to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them. Now, that is faith in action.

Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD