The Passionනියැදිය

I can find it challenging to treat other people with the same care, patience, and kindness I hope to receive. I find this easier for select people, like my closest friends and family. But I don’t always think of them, and it is certainly much easier to love and serve myself. How about you?

In the second part of the greatest command, Jesus doesn’t stop at loving God. He adds “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:39, ESV). This second part also appears in Leviticus 19:18 and is a command from the early days of Israel’s law. In bringing together the two commands of loving God and loving others, Jesus reminds us that the second part of the greatest command of loving others is inseparable from the first of loving God. Firstly, how we love and relate to other people overflows and is empowered from our love for God. Secondly, we simply can’t love God and ignore the people He has put around us; that would be paradoxical!

But what kind of love is Jesus calling of us? It is to love others as ourselves—to give others the same patience, dignity, grace, and care we instinctively give ourselves. That kind of love may look ordinary insofar as it could just involve a small loving action like listening well, being patient, forgiving quickly, etc. But it is also extraordinary because that kind of love is deeply reflective of God’s own love for us and reveals God’s heart to others by making Him visible through you.

Today, ponder this: Who is your neighbour today—someone God is calling you to love, serve, or forgive? What’s one small way you can reflect God’s love to them?