Love Thy Neighbor

Love thy neighbor. Upon this and the first command to the love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy mind, and all thy strength hung all the law and the prophets. According to Jesus, it was a pretty important mandate (Paul and James also thought a lot of it). These two commands are inseperably linked; our lack of love for our God is evidenced by our lack of love for our neighbor. The intensity of our love for God should be reflected in our willingness to be a fellowhelper. We should obey the command to love our neighbor, just as whole-heartedly as the command to love the Lord our God.

Jesus reflected on these two commands as he spoke to a young lawyer whose intentions, aptly discerned by Jesus, were solely to tempt Him. The young lawyer, pulling from his shallow knowledge of Old Testament law, recited these commands back to Jesus, to which Jesus gave a quick affirmation. In the lawyer's next question, his motives were revealed. The Bible says that he, willing to justify himself, asked "Who is my neighbor?" The answer of the Lord Jesus will take the form of a parable. His story will reveal the true definition of loving your neighbor. In his narrative, He reveals that a neighbor, in Biblical terms, is not someone that is near you; it is someone that is in need of you. We shouldn’t ask, “Who is my neighbor?” We should, though, ask the question, “To whom can I be a neighbor.”

Here are some principles that might be gleaned for Jesus's story and help you as you stive to be a fellowhelper:

1. A Fellowhelper must be more than just religious (10:31)
2. A Fellowhelper must be more than just academic (10:32)
3. A Fellowhelper must do more than see the need (10:31-32)
4. A Fellowhelper must both see and seize God-given opportunities (10:31)
5. A Fellowhelper must be willing to cross social, racial, and cultural barriers (10:33)
6. A Fellowhelper must have compassion (10:33, I Peter 3:8, I John 3:17, Jude 1:22)
7. A Fellowhelper must make contact with those whom he helps (10:33-34)
8. A Fellowhelper must sacrifice (10:34-35)
   Money, Effort, Time, Resources (wine and oil)
9. A Fellowhelper must equip and instruct others to be fellowhelpers (10:35)
10. A Fellowhelper must follow through (10:35)

Let's be doers of the word and get to loving our neighbors. Look for those God has pt you in contact with, and remember that it is not by chance, it is by God. May the Lord fill our hearts with His compassion, and give us a true desire to be a fellowhelper.