Loving Your Neighbor
Everyone knows they should love their neighbor as themselves and that it is the second greatest commandment of God (Matt. 22:39). It is called the royal law in God’s word in James 2:8 (Luke 10:27).
The whole law of God is fulfilled in this one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:9).
Many songs have been written about loving your neighbor. “What the world needs now is love sweet love,” go the words of one song. But this is what is not realized by many today—it is physically impossible to love your neighbor with human nature.
Man’s inhumanity, towards man, has never been greater. The proof is: Look at the sad shape the world is in today. Everywhere you look, there is violence.
What few know or realize is that Jesus Christ came to this earth to show us how to love our neighbor, but with His Spirit within us. It is done through living spiritual lives with God’s Spirit in us and no longer living to the flesh with its evil passions and desires (Gal. 5:24).
Jesus came to show us how we could get rid of our old natures by rending our hearts to the Lord and getting rid of the old leaven, which represents sin in our lives, and thus, be able to truly love our neighbors (Joel 2:12-13). This is done by practicing loving service to others, practicing righteousness and charity towards others continually (acts of love—acts of kindness), and living to do only good to others for God and no longer doing evil towards others. We are no longer to live for self, but for others by putting them first, living to be servants of others, and thus, have the peace that comes from doing so (Matt. 23:11).
You then have the peace of knowing you’re living like Jesus Christ gave you example to live and as a result, you are at peace with your Maker. As you practice doing good for others daily, God Himself teaches you how to love one another with His Spirit (1 Thess. 4:9).
This process of loving others is how we purify our souls for God (1 Peter 1:22). This is the message we have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another by serving one another from the heart (1 John 3:11; 2 John 4-6). This is how we are truly born again or born of God, and how God’s love is perfected in us (1 John 4:7, 12). This is how we become new creatures or creations (2 Cor. 5:17). This is also how we crucify the flesh with its evil passions and desires and live to the Spirit, which is the Lord (Gal. 5:24; Rom. 8:12-13; 2 Cor. 3:17).
Living by your own ways and thinking your own thoughts is not good (Is. 65:2). It seems right, but it is not (Prov. 14:12; 16:25). God never meant for man to direct his own steps (Jer. 10:23). From the very beginning God has told man to live by every word of God and walk in His Ways. We are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3).
It is God who defines what is good and what is evil (Deut. 1:39). It is God who teaches man the Way he should live and how to love his neighbor as himself (Psalm 32:8; 143:8; Jer. 42:2-3; Eph. 2:10).
A time is coming soon when great calamities will happen on this earth to all mankind, and unless those days were cut short, no life would be left on the earth (Matt. 24:21-22; Mark 13:19-20). God prophesied in Deuteronomy 4:3 that all these things would come upon the world in the latter days. People would then begin to return to the Lord and listen to His voice by studying His word for His truth, and begin to put it into practice in their daily lives.
You can do so now by following these simple directions. Repent and turn to the Lord by doing acts of kindness daily towards others. Educate yourself with the articles on our website about baptism. Then once you understand the commitment involved in, be baptized as Jesus Christ was, when He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (Matt. 3:13). This baptism represents the death of the old self with its sinful ways and the beginning of a new Way of life—the Way of righteousness—the Way of the Lord (Matt. 21:32; Acts 18:25). Ask God to give you His Holy Spirit and remember, He gives His Spirit only to those who obey Him by living like Him continually (Luke 11:13; Acts 5:32; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 1:6-7).
You are now on your way. You are ready to love your neighbor as yourself by serving Him daily. Don’t forget, everyone who crosses your path is your neighbor.
This Way is easy, pleasant and light (Matt. 11:30). God made sure it would be this way so that even the lowliest of people and uneducated could understand and live it.
When calamities come, you may be found worthy and be rescued if and when necessary (Dan. 12:1; Mal. 3:16-17; Luke 21:36 King James Version). Take this precious opportunity and begin today. In these last days, the Lord has made provision for you to come directly to Him and ask Him for His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13).
Now you know how to love your neighbor as yourself, as well as how to show God love by doing so. The next step is yours. Always remember—God is watching us from a distance.