Loving one another is how we fulfill the second greatest commandment. This daily devotional begins looking at what that means by determining who are our neighbors.
Nuggets
- The lawyer asked how to gain eternal life, but he already knew the answer.
- Loving our neighbors mean we love them as God does.
- We gain eternal life by obeying God’s command to love.
Devotions in How to Love Our Neighbors series
In our Sunday Morning Bible Study, we are starting to look at how to love our neighbors. The first lesson discusses the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Let’s start out by looking at the question the lawyer asked that resulted in the parable.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
The Inquisitor
“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself’” (Lk. 10: 25-27 ESV)
The lawyer asked how to gain eternal life, but he already knew the answer.
Hmmm. How do these verses give us knowledge as to how to love our neighbor?
One answer to that question is that they are setting up the context of why Jesus told the parable He is going to tell.
The more important answer is our love for others have to come from our love for God.
We’ve talked many times that these are the two greatest commandments. The first one is love God. The second one is love others.
Glossary
One problem with the lawyer’s question is that it is asking what he can do. We know perfection is more about being.
This is because perfection means maturity. We only gain maturity by growing.
We can do and do and do. But if we aren’t growing into God’s character, we are just going through the motions, regardless of the motivation.
That is why loving God is the greatest commandment. Only having God change us at the heart-level can meet our wants and needs.
Another problem with the lawyer’s question was the motivation through which it was asked. He wanted to tempt Jesus, not really to learn from the answer he received.
The Pharisees had a hard time finding something with which to condemn Jesus because He was fulfilling all the laws they so pushed. They kept looking for ways to trip Him up.
Parker thought the lawyer was asking Jesus for His interpretation. The lawyer asked the question in hopes that Jesus would show how much he was against the Pharisees’ beliefs.
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Jesus made the lawyer answer his own question. The answer was Deuteronomy 6: 5. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6: 5 ESV).
I see advantages both ways. If Jesus would have answered first, He would tell us exactly what God is expecting.
But Jesus’ point was that the answer had already been given. The lawyer, as a Pharisee – an educated man – should be able to give the answer. It ended up he had the head knowledge (but did he have wisdom????)
Ooo, yes! You have an eagle eye!
The lawyer did add the part about loving our neighbor as ourselves. No, he didn’t rewrite Scriptures.
It is in Leviticus. “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Lev. 19: 18 ESV)
The Practical Definition of Loving Our Neighbor
“And he answered, ‘You shall love … your neighbor as yourself’” (Lk. 10: 25, 27 ESV)
Loving our neighbors mean we love them as God does.
But I, personally, don’t think the neighbor part is totally right. He said we are to love “… your neighbor as yourself” (Lk. 10: 27 ESV).
If you have read past devotions, you know I have a problem with that. I’m not going to look them up right now, but I know I have gotten up on my soap box and talked about how we don’t love ourselves. If we don’t love ourselves, how are we going to love others?
No, I am not supposed to love my neighbor only as I love me. I am supposed to love my neighbor as God loves me. To me, that is what the “… as yourself” (Lk. 10: 27 ESV) means.
But I also see how this helps us approach others humbly. We know how flawed we are, so maybe our pride will take a day off while we love our neighbors.
This all brings up a really good point. The law is about doing, but it is also about believing. We have to believe and obey.
So, who is our neighbor? Jesus said that everyone is our neighbor – but Scriptures say in many instances that this especially refers to disciples loving other disciples.
Foote gave us some practical ways that we are to love our neighbors.
- Speak well of others.
- Don’t repeat prejudicial reports about others.
- Believe mistakes are made by negligence than wickedness.
- Deal faithfully with others.
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To me, this says that we look for the positive in others rather than the negative. It does rest some on choosing to love others.
But Robertson says there is more to it than that. He wrote, “… love cannot be produced by a direct action of the soul upon itself. You cannot love by a resolve to love.”
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We have to love by doing the things that love require. We can only do this by meditating the love of God.
Since God is love, we tap into it to love others. Dykes explained it this way. He wrote, “The affection which fulfils the whole law is an ethical principle, and not simply an instinctive or generous affection.”
Resource
Hmmm, an ethical principle. That circles back to spiritual graces.
God isn’t interested in us just being a good, ethical person. He wants us focused on Him.
Eternal Life
“And he said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live’” (Lk. 10: 28 ESV)
We gain eternal life by obeying God’s command to love.
Let’s circle back to the discussion on eternal life. The greatest commandments require love for fulfillment. We show that love by obeying all the other laws and commandments.
But that isn’t why we have eternal life. Emmons wrote, “God does not promise eternal life to all who obey His commands, because their sincere and cordial obedience atones for their sin, and lays a foundation for pardon, for forgiveness, or justification in His sight. … Nor does God promise eternal life to those who obey Him, because their obedience merits eternal life. … He does promise eternal life to them because their obedience is a proper ground, reason, or condition, for bestowing upon them such a gracious and unmerited reward.”
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We don’t earn eternal life by merit. We can’t earn it by doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts.
We gain eternal life by asking Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer. We get it by loving God.
Making the Connections
When we say love, we are talking love, not tolerance. We have to obey God’s definition.
We can’t compromise with the world.
How Do We Apply This?
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Father God. We look to You for the pure definition of love. That is what we want to possess for You and for others. Help us to love as You love us. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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