Love is not in just words, it is in our actions and deeds. As Christians, the only way we can truly display God is through love.
We have been taught that the greatest commandment in the law is to “love the Lord your God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. And the second is like it: ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt 22:37-39).
Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors more than ourselves and to always put the needs of others’ before ours, that is true love, so who is your neighbor? We may think it is your friend, the brother, sister or family who lives next door, it’s beyond that, your neighbor is simply anyone in need of help.
There are different definitions of a neighbor
- A neighbor is one has a need and one who responds to the need, anyone whose need you can meet, that is your neighbor.
- A neighbor is one who looks beyond prejudice, one who does good unto others without considering their circumstance or expecting anything in return.
- One who inconveniences themselves for the convenience of others.
In the story of the Good Samaritan, Christ taught us a great lesson here. The man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and left him for dead. A priest came down that road, saw him and passed by on the other side, so did the Levites, these were all religious people, but a Samaritan came and had compassion on the man after seeing him. He went to him, bandaged his wounds and took care of him. He also took him to an inn to be looked after and paid for the cost of treatment, how many of us would do that today for a complete stranger? This is the great example of God’s love.
Pastor George Irabor