Loving Your Neighbor

Introduction

Mark 12:28–34 NIV

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Matthew 22:6

Matthew 22:36

Give a self explanation of what is going on.

The pharisees wanted to trap Jesus. They were looking for ways to get Him to slip up saying that this law was important and that none of the other ones really mattered, but Jesus said something radical.

All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.

Jesus took all 613 laws and the 10 commandments and summed them up into “Love God, Love others”. It seems so simple!

I feel like we look at this section of scripture and we say I can do that. That is something that is attainable to me, but for some reason we miss it. We get caught up in here and now in what is going on with me and we don’t even give a passing glance at our neighbor, yet alone love them.

But Jesus challenges us to this radical thought process. Love your neighbor as yourself. He is challenging people to not just a brotherly love or a romantic love, but an agape unconditional love of your neighbor. Wow okay you have just upped the stakes a little there.

Luke 6:32 NIV

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

Luke 6:32–36 NIV

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Okay Jesus is getting real with us here. He is making us sweat a little.

“Jesus have you seen the people that I am surrounded by?”

“Do you know the way they talk or behave?”

“Do you know what families they come from?”

“Do you know the way they treat me?”

Jesus sees and knows and still continues to say love them. It’s radical and when we think about it impossible. Impossible without the first step of Loving God.

Love God

There is a reason Jesus says to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength. The very essence of the life we walk as a believer stems from this. Loving people trickles down from loving God.

What I mean is if you want to walk the life Jesus walked it all comes down to the intimate way you know God.

I am not talking about how much you know about God, but how much you know Him and He knows you itimately.

Intimacy - close familiarity or friendship; closeness.

Example of knowing your wife or a friend

You cannot begin to love someone without developing a relationship with them. You cannot put your heart, mind, soul, and strength into something you do not care deeply about.

In order to love God we must become intimate with Him. This intimacy drives the love.

1 John 4:19 NIV

We love because he first loved us.

GOD LOVES YOU SO MUCH!

Because we see of what He has done on our behalf we believe. Because we believe we want to know Him more. Once we begin to know him more we reflect His very nature to people around us.

Lets do a little theology here.

This is how it was designed by God from the beginning. He designed us for intimacy with him. We bear the image of God not referring to what our physical bodies look like, but by the very qualities and nature of God. The biggest one being Love.

1 John 4:7–8 NIV

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Love Others

You might be wondering how am I supposed to love people as much as God is calling me to love them. You said that in order to truly love others you cannot do so unless you develop a relationship with them. You expect me to develop a relationship with every single person?

1 John 4:9–12 NIV

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Look back what he says. The love comes from God.

Explain YWAM story at lunch.

God already loves the world unconditionally and this unconditional love can be poured into your heart. The reason our heart breaks for lost people is because God’s heart breaks for lost people. It is who He is and it is who we become. Love.

The world doesn’t need to hear more sermons or be told more things to do. The world needs to see this unconditional love of God on display and God chose these little sheep. You and I to display the love to the world.

He isn’t expecting us to produce it but says when you know me you will display it.

Application

Bible and House story in Mexico