Saturday, June 26, 2021

Love Your Neighbors

Photo by Pr. Judy Mattson
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. (Lev 19:18 KJV)

Love your neighbor as yourself. According to Jesus this is the greatest commandment following love the Lord with all your heart. 

"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." 
                                                                                     (Matt 22:35-40)

Just because we feel slighted does not necessarily mean that our neighbor meant to offend us. Feeling offended does not mean we get to offend our neighbor by causing them undue harm. There are systems of justice both in this world and in the spiritual realms. If the rulers of this world cannot take care of the injustice; God, surely will. That justice may not always be to our liking. But, be assured it will taken care of according to God's will. He knows exactly what needs to be done for the good of all people.

There would be a whole lot less injustice in the world if we could only remember to love the Lord with all of our hearts and with all our souls and with all of our minds. If we did that we would also love our neighbors as ourselves and not take vengeance into our own hands for they too are the children of God, created in his image. His will is that we love one another and not  do harm to those who might make us feel uncomfortable.

Love the Lord and all of His creation that we might live in peace.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

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