"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Every day, as we walk through life, we observe the world and the people around us. We see their actions, their choices, and we often make judgments. But do we ever pause to understand their stories? Do we know their struggles, their fears, and the battles they fight silently? None of us are perfect. We all have our mistakes and regrets. We are all human, trying to navigate through this complex world.
It’s easy to judge, to feel superior, but true strength lies in empathy—in understanding that everyone has their own journey, their own pain. Before you judge, remember that we all have scars, some visible, some hidden. We all make mistakes, we all fall, and we all rise again. So, let us choose kindness over judgment, understanding over criticism, because in the end, we are all beautifully imperfect, and that’s what makes us human.
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Matthew 22:37-39?says, "And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" Jesus said the greatest among all the Law is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. As said, we have to love our brothers, and we have to love them as ourselves. How do people love themselves? They eat good food, and they make themselves warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather. They adorn themselves, fulfill their necessities, and try to cover up their faults. It is love to do the same for the brothers also. When your brother is cold and hungry, if you just say 'What a pity' it is not love. You have to supply him with what he needs with your deeds and truthfulness. If you do not help those who are in need, and if you reveal brothers' faults and spread it to others, it is not love either. Of course, you should teach the truth to those who commit sins and go the way of death and advise them to repent. But without earnest and burning heart to save that soul, if you just criticize and slander him within your own righteousness and frameworks, it is demonstrating hate for that brother. If you get angry, become jealous, seek your own benefit, it means you do not have love, and you cannot confidently say you are children of God.
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Are you seeking others' benefits? Or do you seek your own first? When others prosper, are you rejoicing as much as in your work? Or are you speaking ill of them, saying, "That person lacks in this and that aspect, but why is she prosperous?" or do you lose heart? When someone strikes you on the right cheek, do you have a desire to turn the other cheek in order to be at peace with her? When someone sues you and takes your coat, do you have a heart to consider that person's shoes and give her even your shirt? When someone causes you a hard time, is your peace broken in your heart? Are you speaking pure and holy words so that every word coming from your mouth can give out the fragrance of the Christ? Or are you speaking negative words of complaints, groaning, and unbelief and causing hard time to the people around you? If you love God with all your heart, you will unceasingly examine your words and deeds.
You will continue to change yourselves, checking whether your words were good and your thoughts were proper in God's sight. Some people, even if they have the knowledge of the truth, they think and behave in an opposite way to goodness. Suppose a member had a longing for receiving the level of faith and has made all her efforts for it, but didn't get her expected result. Now she is making God feel frustrated. She says, "This person can offer a big amount of offering because her husband is securely supporting her. That person has short years of faithfulness but gains great favor with her inborn good heart. Why is my heart this little?" "Why is my environment so poor? I have little offering because I have little money. I have no one to help me enter into spirit quickly." This way she is losing heart attributing everything to surroundings, others, and her own heart. Because she has mercy on herself, she cannot realize how far her thought is from goodness.
If you are spiritually awake, you will think in Mary Magdalene's shoes for a moment and you can choose the way of goodness. Even if you listen to many messages, long for the grace and have a burning heart to enter into spirit, it cannot be said you have a true longing to become a person of spirit. You have to meditate on the word heard and make every effort to become a person of goodness. This is how you have a true longing for spirit and love God with all your heart. There is one more thing for you to remember. God's criterion of judgment is different from human criterion. Exodus 15:26 tells us that we should do righteousness not in our eyes but in God's eyes. In the same way, the goodness that people recognizes is different from God-recognizing goodness. Some of you look meek and polite to everyone, but may have a heart that disregards others. When somebody else's education conflicts with your own, you may think she is uneducated and impolite and close your hearts toward her.
Some others have an introspective character and don't like having disputes with others. So they don't insist on their own opinions and follow others' advice. But it happens only because of their personality. They don't serve others from their heart. They may think, "It seems that I always lose out in making peace with others," and their ill feelings such as frustrations and discomfort become worse. They may also have difficulty discovering their evils because they think they served and gave room for others. They say they are enduring trials but they cannot do it with joy and thanksgiving. If they pass through persecutions for faith and financial trials with faith, hope and love, then their faces are covered with greater grace. But because they suppress and constrain themselves in their trials, sorrow increases to the extent hard times have passed. Then their faces show gloom and shades of anxiety. They think they have endured well for years, but the door to blessings is not opened as quickly as expected. Still others appear sincere, diligent and sociable with many others. They seem to do others' works as their own. They are praised among others, but they have only a little longing for spirit. Like Martha, they have greater interest in their duties than in loving God and becoming sanctified. They think they have goodness and are serving others. But all these belong to fleshly goodness. They may be deemed to be good by the standards of others and they themselves think they are good, but God does not acknowledge their goodness. If you want to love God with all your heart, you have to seek goodness in every aspect and realize what the goodness of God is and accomplish such goodness.
1 John 4:21 says, "And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also." Some believers seem to give to God what is theirs with fervor, but do not do anything for other believers. They pray fervently, attend worship services arduously, and dedicate their time and money to God. But they staggeringly lack in considering and looking after the people around them. They have given God many things they have, but they cannot bear complete fruits of blessing. Of course, they have no intention of doing harm to others or of causing evils toward others. They are just narrow-sighted in considering others and their character of their heart is not so great to that extent. So, they may hurt others' hearts and give discomfort to others, though it is not intentional. Let me give a couple of examples. Someone has a fervent longing for spirit and diligently prays with fasting. She volunteers in many works and gives many offerings to God. But while praying, she does not pray for the souls and the kingdom of God that much. She seems to have a longing for spirit, but she doesn't have a desire to be with many of the people around her. Some members around her didn't receive the level of faith and are in tearful prayer. But she got a notice of her level of faith. Now she is giving her testimony to her faith with joy saying, "I have done nothing good, but God gave me a good score in His great love." She is so full of grace and joy that she fails to take others' feelings and place into consideration. On the contrary, while she is suffering difficulties, she expresses her suffering to the highest degree and embarrasses others. She does not realize she is causing others to feel sorry and embarrassed. Let me give you another example. A mission group divided into smaller groups to clean a large space. One group finished cleaning their part a little earlier than others. The others were still cleaning. If she has a broader heart, she can recognize why the other groups have not finished and see what aspects need help getting finished. Those who have little spiritual love cannot consider a situation from others' shoes. Galatians 6:2 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ." Today's Scripture says, "Love your neighbor as yourself" and other Scripture says, "to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." I ask you to take care of many others with delicate love and broadened hearts. I wish for you to harbor many more souls with love, generosity, and the Father's heart. This is how you can love God with all your heart.
Pastor Emeritus Dr Jaerock Lee sermon