Tuesday: Loving Our Neighbors
Read James 2:8-9, along with Leviticus 19:17-18 and Matthew 5:43-45. What crucial message are we being given here?
Qumran Living Quarters
from Wikimedia commons
Photo by Mark A. Wilson, Dept. Geology, College of Wooster, OH
James calls God’s law the royal law
(James 2:8) because it is the law of the KING OF KINGS
(Rev. 19:16). The law of His kingdom is given in detail in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which includes the first of nine references in the New Testament to loving our neighbor.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:43 suggest the way Leviticus 19:18 was understood at the time. For example, the immediately preceding commands in Leviticus use apparent synonyms for one’s neighbor: they prohibit hating one’s brother
(Lev. 19:17) and holding a grudge against one’s fellow Israelite (Lev. 19:18).
Most likely some interpreted these commands to mean it would be fine to be angry with or hate someone who was not an Israelite, because he or she is not specifically mentioned in these Leviticial texts. After all, people who were not Israelites were also generally considered to be enemies. We now know that such an attitude existed in the Qumran community, a group of devout Jews who had separated themselves from the rest of the nation. They were taught to hate the children of darkness
and the men of perdition
(The Community Rule 1QS 1:10; 9:21, 22), labels which apparently included not only foreigners but even Israelites who had rejected the community’s teachings.
Sin is the greatest of all evils, and it is ours to pity and help the sinner. There are many who err, and who feel their shame and their folly. They are hungry for words of encouragement. They look upon their mistakes and errors, until they are driven almost to desperation. These souls we are not to neglect. If we are Christians, we shall not pass by on the other side, keeping as far as possible from the very ones who most need our help. When we see human beings in distress, whether through affliction or through sin, we shall never say, This does not concern me.
-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 504.
Jesus’ life is the greatest example we’ll ever have of selfless love for the undeserving and those who didn’t love back. How can we learn to express such love for those whom we deem undeserving or who don’t love us back? Why is, in the end, complete self-surrender and death to self the only answer?
(25)
We should emulate Christ. How should people know that we are followers of Christ? By doing that which Christ could have done if He were with us today. We should encourage the discouraged and comfort the bruised. We should not seek for occasion to harm them more but give them hope instead.
May God grant us grace to be like Jesus in everything that we do, specially loving our neighbors
Well i truly believe that god gives us a lesson sometimes to set us straight.
I have been upset at a coworker since yesterday about something she said to me. Today i come in to work and start my day by reading my lesson before my day starts and this lesson pops up.
I felt like god gave me a little nudge and pointed me in the right direction. Now after reading the lesson i feel total different i feel happy instead of down and mad.
How can we learn to express such love for those whom we deem undeserving or don't love us back? Its impossible for us even profess christians, until and unless we unreservedly and completely surrender self to Christ, and die daily to self can it be done in and through us, my prayer is that God, you will make me wholly Thine,so I can be like Jesus
An interesting bit of detail appears in Leviticus 19:17. It says, "You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him." This appears to be consistent with what Jesus said in Matthew 18:15, “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother."
It seems making an effort to deal with the problems we have with others, and seeking restoration is helpful in preserving a right attitude to those who offend us. Saying nothing while harboring hostile thoughts towards the offender may lead to sin. Simply saying something to seek reconciliation after prayerful consideration might help with cultivating a right disposition.
Hi Hugh,
Another text is:
Mat 5:23 Therefore if you offer your gift on the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,
Mat 5:24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
So the instruction is whether I have something against you or you have something against me we should meet and be reconciled.
Why is this so seldom done and if it is why is it so difficult? What does it really mean to be reconciled?
Firstly the biggest problem is we are highly emotional and focus on how much I have been hurt.
Secondly we most often justify what we have done although the other party thinks we were wrong.
So I must be humble, make the first move, do much soul searching and acknowledge my part in the issue, be prepared to say I am sorry, I was wrong, I am sorry I hurt you. Be prepared to be rejected, your brother might not 'hear you'
One of my Mother's favourite texts is Rom 12:18 ... so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Rom 12:14-21 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (16) Live in harmony with one another. (17) Repay no one evil for evil (18) If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (19) Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." (20) To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
What is true reconciliation?
How does the LORD reconcile me to himself?
1)He does not count my sins against me
2)He takes the penalty of my sins upon himself
3)He asks me to share the message of reconciliation
So how does reconciliation work?
If someone hurts me I must not hold it against her even it I suffer because of it.
But what about 'tell her, her faults'?
Only for redemptive purposes, only to give her the opportunity to enjoy the freedom from hate and to be reconciled to the LORD and myself, to be a new creation.
Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2Co 5:18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
"go tell him his faults"
Wesley's commentary on Romans 12:20
Feed him - With your own hand: if it be needful, even put bread into his mouth. Heap coals of fire upon his head - That part which is most sensible.
"So artists melt the sullen ore of lead, By heaping coals of fire upon its head; In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow, And pure from dross the silver runs below."
What an interesting concept, is this what Paul was trying to tell us? Being kind to one who has hurt us is the best way to help them realize their faults!!
Rom 12:18-21 If it is possible, as far as is in you, being in peace with all men. (19) not avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord." (20) Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
When we develop and maintain a relationship with Christ. He enables us to show less of ourselves and more of Him in our daily interaction and relations with each other.
It is in the context of "Loving our enemy," that Jesus also said to, "Be perfect even as His Father is perfect." From here, some theologians go on to claim that God expects flawless and perfect sinlessness from us. But I would venture to say that it is possible to, "Love our enenmy," and not be flawlessly sinless. It is possible for example to feed someone who hates us and yet we ourselves still be struggling with anger in our own lives.
I love my neighbours. But my husband does not love them. One day I asked him why he does not love our neighbours and he said that they cannot change, they keep on doing the same thing (swearing,
drinking kava, alcohol, corrupt commuinications etc..
He doesn't want me to communicate with them, but I want to share the love of Jesus with them. He told me that quote: "Don't throw your pearls on pigs's fence". Could someone explain this quote?
Anna George
Not throwing pearls before swine is a quotation from Matthew 7:6 "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
It's always a judgment call, and only God knows whether or not hearts can be impressed. You can ask the Lord to tell you what to do, and he may or may not tell you the same thing your husband does. We each need to be true to what we understand God to be saying to us.
But the text does tell us that there are situations in which it is best not to bring up the "holy."
This is how we learn to love our neighbour by receiving the Fruits of the Spirit.
Meekness, a Fruit of the Spirit Part #1 - The Sanctified Life pg 14,15
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
- Psalm 37:11
The most precious fruit of sanctification is the grace of meekness. When this grace presides in the soul, the disposition is molded by its influence. There is a continual waiting upon God and a submission of the will to His. The understanding grasps every divine truth, and the will bows to every divine precept, without doubting or murmuring. True meekness softens and subdues the heart and gives the mind a fitness for the engrafted word. It brings the thoughts into obedience to Jesus Christ. It opens the heart to the word of God, as Lydia's was opened. It places us with Mary, as learners at the feet of Jesus. "The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way" (Ps. 25:9).
The language of the meek is never that of boasting. Like the child Samuel, they pray, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth" (1 Sam. 3:9). When Joshua was placed in the highest position of honor, as commander of Israel, he bade defiance to all the enemies of God. His heart was filled with noble thoughts of his great mission. Yet upon the intimation of a message from Heaven he placed himself in the position of a little child to be directed. "What saith my lord unto his servant?" (Joshua 5:14), was his response. The first words of Paul after Christ was revealed to him were, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6).
Meekness in the school of Christ is one of the marked fruits of the Spirit. It is a grace wrought by the Holy Spirit as a sanctifier, and enables its possessor at all times to control a rash and impetuous temper. When the grace of meekness is cherished by those who are naturally sour or hasty in disposition, they will put forth the most earnest efforts to subdue their unhappy temper. Every day they will gain self-control, until that which is unlovely and unlike Jesus is conquered. They become assimilated to the Divine Pattern, until they can obey the inspired injunction, "Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath" (James 1:19).
When are we going to begin the work of interpreting our messages for the world around us? What does "die to self" mean to an outsider? For that matter, what does it mean to "die to self" to an insider? Was I not crucified with Christ and I no longer live, is that not a promise from the throne of God? It is Christ that lives in me, not I myself.Is not the flesh warring against God, and will never be reconciled to Him until it perishes or is changed from corruption to in-corruption at His second coming? Recon yourselves dead indeed to sin, and all that good news, must mean something to someone intellectually assenting but really aren't we simply saying God is in the business of restoring any and all of us into fellowship with Himself? The way He does it, is by His goodness , justice and mercy. He is not slack, as men are but diligent and far more powerful than Satan who is basically the leader of spiritually cut off and dying beings fallen in their sin and transgression. God offers a pardon to all and the way it works is, we surrender our own ideas about life to Him and begin the journey from spiritual death to life more abundant and free. Or? What is the good news anyway? That we are to spend the rest of our lives fighting for salvation, when it has already been won for us, and we are never going to be confident that what God has begun in us He will complete? You say, all we have to do is "die to self" and live for God and His eternal kingdom. Huh, and what does that mean to the post moderns , I say it, just tell people the Truth that you understand, if you understand it. God is, and He is the re warder of those who diligently seek Him. Not only is He good, He is very very good and alive today working His Divine goodness into all of our lives, in order to motivate us to live for Him and be filled with joy and unspeakable love that we have the privilege of sharing with the the spiritually dead and ill in our world. I am sick of any and all cultural Adventist tradition which leaves the gospel out of the center of our discourses. See Jesus, see mercy and justice joining together to restore order to our chaotic lives and then share the love with our enemies, rejoicing when they revile us and persecute us, which is really giving glory to God for His unspeakable gift and reminding us that our reward is mostly given in the world to come. Not to diminish, the fruits of the Spirit which are the result of a surrendered life.