Why Should I Love My Neighbor? | Love Your Neighbor | Pastor Rodney Thrift
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
Why Should I Love My Neighbor?
Mark 12:28-31 (ESV) 28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Galatians 3:24 (NKJV) Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS:
You shall have no other God’s before me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.
A command verses a commission:
Command: to give an authoritative order.
Commission: the act of committing and the authority granted for a particular action or function.
SOUL TATTOO: My neighbor is anyone in proximity to me that I can share God’s love with.
SOUL TATTOO: I should love my neighbor because Jesus commanded me too.
3 Loving myself mantras:
- I am created in God’s image.
Genesis 1:27 (NLT) 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
- I am God’s masterpiece.
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
- God expects me to be the person that he created me to be.
Genesis 1:31a (ESV) 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
Job 33:4 (ESV) 4 The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
SOUL TATTOO: I should love my neighbor because Jesus commanded me too.
5 Motivations to love my neighbor:
I love my neighbor because…
- I am told to.
Mark 12:31a (ESV) 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
- I love what God loves.
John 3:16 (ESV) 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
- I should love like God does.
1 John 4:7-8 (NLT) 7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
“Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours.” The Prayers of Teresa of Avila
- I see Jesus in them.
Matthew 25:40b (ESV) …‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself; this is hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” Mother Teresa
- It creates opportunities for me to share who Jesus is.
1 John 3:18 (NIV) 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Practical ways of Loving my Neighbor as myself:
1.) Loving my neighbor is saying hello and smiling at my neighbor.
2.) Loving my neighbor is asking my neighbor a question other than their name.
3.) Loving my neighbor is offering help with something for my neighbor.
4.) Loving my neighbor is asking them to go to a meal or just a cup of coffee.
5.) Loving my neighbor is inviting them to come to a holiday meal.
SOUL TATTOO: I should love my neighbor because Jesus commanded me too.
Neighborly Prayer:
Serving like and as Jesus only makes sense when I know who I am. I am not a random person doing nice things. I am a child of God, living for God and wanting people to experience the tangible love of God. Serving people is easy when I know who I am and what I am about. My biggest purpose in life, is to give my life away to others like Christ, and in this, I will receive joy, fulfilment, and meaning in return. Therefore, I want to go and be a blessing. Amen.