Love Your Neighbor

On Sunday our pastor gave a wonderful sermon on

"Cultural Engagement from the Perspective of Jesus".

It spoke volumes! In Matthew 22, Jesus clearly teaches of the greatest commandment.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 22:34-40

As Christians, living in this fallen, worldly world, how then are we to love our neighbor? Who is our neighbor? Put simply, it is those in need, those all around you. Friend or Foe. Christians. Enemies. They are in your home, your family. They are within our local communities, and our state, infact all the United States. Around the world. Everywhere we look, there is true need. How then can we help? Sometimes it is hard to love our enemies. "You've got to be kidding!", we mumble to ourselves.

Yet, the Lord our God does not give us things we cannot handle. He promises to equip us and give us what we need during the time at hand. And I remembered...

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 4:16

We must arise oh dear fellow Christians. We must boldly go before the throne of grace. He will equip us to meet the needs, no matter how big or small. This has been a great reminder for me personally. It is so easy to fall into the comforts of our own lives. I must rise up, pray, be equipped, and go boldly with His grace. Thank you Jesus!