“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.”
Matthew 22:37-39 KJV
Is it easy to love the Lord thy God? After all, He is always there for us and understands our every need. Our Lord is long-suffering. He knows we are not perfect, so He meets us where we are to lift us up and make us better. He pours out His love and affection on us. On a daily basis, we are blessed with many gifts from God: life, air, a home, health, love, family, and friends. He loves us as we are, knowing the better person He can make us into. He loved us before we loved Him. Loving the Lord Jesus, our friend and Redeemer, does not seem to be challenging for most of us. Isn’t it easy to love Someone who does and gives so much for us?
But what about the people who aren’t so giving and loving and who take things from us? The second part of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 22 is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” This is where the real work is: loving those who aren’t always loving to us. And not just loving them in a hands-off universal way, but loving them AS MYSELF.
I heard a story one morning while driving to work about a woman who decided to give her ex-husband's new wife a kidney transplant. One of her own kidneys! This was a real miracle! Can you imagine the level of pain and hurt that happens when one goes through a divorce? Your entire life plan is ripped away and permanently altered. Commitment, faithfulness, and forever have come to mean something else. Life is forever changed on so many levels. Not many individuals, after going through such a trying experience, would ever consider such a loving, sacrificial gift as a kidney.
The story goes that the woman and her husband had gotten divorced and began working through a co-parenting schedule. Then she found out her ex-husband was going to remarry. Often, this is another step in the pain process of divorce. Soon she heard that his new wife was in need of a kidney transplant. His world is now being tested. The kids were impacted by this situation as well. How many of us would be able to put aside our differences and volunteer to see if we're a match, then donate one of our kidneys to our ex’s new spouse?
Well, this woman did. She saw how her children's father was suffering, watching his new wife suffer. She saw the new wife’s pain and volunteered to be tested to see if she was a match. Then she went through the surgery to give a major organ so that the new wife could experience life at its fullest once again. Is this not the fullness of “love thy neighbor as thyself”?
Call to Action
After listening to this story, it reminded me that long ago, before the foundation of our world, Jesus Christ offered to be our sacrifice if we should ever get into trouble. (See 1 Peter 1:20.) So, when He is speaking in Matthew 22 about loving our neighbor as ourselves, He is speaking with experience and authority—not asking us to do more than He Himself has already done.
You may not be asked to sacrifice your life or donate a major organ, but you are asked, by God Himself, to sacrificially love your neighbor in the ways presented to you. We can be a loving miracle to others simply by choosing to be pleasant, compassionate, and gracious in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Also, we should look for ways to serve and bless others, putting their needs above our own—just as Jesus did. What a miracle would take place in our world if we followed what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39. Let’s make a difference!
