Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Mark 12:33 "To love him (God) 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.”

How do I love ME? Let me count the ways...

I clothe myself. I feed myself. I pray for myself. I pity myself...a lot! I even, "treat" myself occasionally. I am pretty good to myself and I'm always looking out for me.

Romans 13:9-10 is recorded as "...and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Dictionary.com defines neighbor as "one's fellow human being". It is not defined as a person of a particular sex, race, or creed. Nor is neighbor defined as someone who always agrees with you. There is no mention of faith or doctrine. Fellow human being. Period.

We know from 1 Corinthians 13, commonly referred to as The Love Chapter, that love is biblically defined as patient and kind. It is not envious, boastful, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered. Love does not keep a tally of all the wrong things done....it does not keep score. Love ALWAYS protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres. Love NEVER fails.

Love, love, love. I love me, but I love you more! :)

John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

Comments

Joseph: Treasure Chest

I've so enjoyed the study of Joseph, thus far. For me, it has been much like finding a treasure chest, cautiously opening the lid, peering in trying to see everything the chest holds. Layers upon layers, depths upon depths, discovering and analyzing every part of his life recounted in the Bible like examining small gemstones or more accurately witnessing the most beautiful diamond being formed amidst the ugliest circumstances. "Natural diamonds are formed about 100 miles beneath the earth's surface where carbon rich rocks are melted by the heat of the earth's mantle, a layer of liquid lava rock, and are compressed by the enormous pressure of the many miles of earth above them. As the earth churns, the heated rock may move upwards away from the heat and cool over time, which can form diamonds if the conditions are just right. It takes hundreds of thousands of years for the process to take place." (ehow.google) To simplify--high temperature, high pressur...

Porcupine

Photo by Vadym “The porcupine, whom one must handle gloved, may be respected, but never loved.” ~Arthur Guiterman Those who know me, even those who have followed my blogs, know I have struggled in relationships. Though it is true, many of the hellacious, short-lived relationships were the result of simply picking the wrong people--whether romantic relationships, friendships, even mentors. For this reason, it is particularly important to pray about every aspect of your life, not just "the big things." In all actuality, the simplest details overlooked can thrust you into the most difficult and most painful situations from which to extricate yourself. Often, this is where we experience being blind-sided. Through these tumultuous times, as we all do, I have developed a defense mechanism that I only discovered in the past few weeks. In my prayer time, a revelation came to me so clearly, I may as well ha...

So Why a Blog?

Photo by Heidi Fin For some time now, I have wanted to share my journey, but I did not have a forum in which to share it. After reading a friend's blog tonight, I became inspired! The reason I want to tell my story is that I have found myself surrounded by many people, young and old alike, who are making some of the same mistakes I made. I want to scream, "Stop right there! Do not make a move!" I know that seems a bit silly, and well, dramatic. Having spent my entire childhood and early adult years practically living in the church, I know most, if not all, the excuses used to justify bad behavior while praying for mercy and expecting God to clean up the mess. God is merciful; He does often give us multiple opportunities to get it together. However, the U-turns and the long road back can be downright, literal hell. I have heard it said that "when you have walked twelve miles into the woods, even though you have turned around and headed out, you will still have twel...

The Journey

Search This Blog