love your neighbor as yourself meaning with detailed explanation
Sometimes we forget to love ourselves when we think about how we can love our neighbor. Jesus’ commandment, as well as the quote, is to love your neighbor as yourself. This means that we must first love ourselves in order to love others as well as our neighbors. Self-love is a constant process and can be difficult. These are easy ways to show your love, whether you’re just starting to love yourself or you have been doing it for years.
Why does God tell us to love our neighbors?
Loving your neighbor is a prerequisite. “God sent his only Son into the world to show how much he loves us So that we may have eternal life through Him. … However, God lives in us if we love one another. His love is fully expressed in us
love your neighbor as yourself Bible Verse
“Love the Lord, your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all you strength. The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. These are the most important commandments. “Mark 12:30-31
What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?
The Bible teaches eight times that you should love your neighbor as yourself. It is not once. Not once. Eight times. God considers it so important to love your neighbor as himself that He repeats it eight times. Not just one command from a long list. Jesus combined the commandment to love your neighbor with his command to love God with all of our heart, souls, minds, and strength.
James refers to it as the royal law. It sounds wonderful, and it is beautiful when we follow it.
It’s not always easy to love your neighbor as yourself. It’s why God gave it as a command. He knew that we would struggle. It is to our advantage that we make it a commandment. How can that be? It is important to be deliberate about what you do. Sometimes, even out of necessity.
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This is how you love your neighbor as yourself.
1. To love your neighbor is to receive God’s love.
You must know two things in order to begin to love your neighbor like yourself: what love is, and how you are loved.
According to the Bible, “this is love.” We did not love God, but He loved us enough to send his Son as a substitute …” (1 John 4:10). This love is for you. God loves you. This is a crucial truth. This is not a general way of being loved, but a deep and unconditional love. This is possible when we realize that God first loved us. He is the source of our love. God has always loved us, even before Jesus Christ gave His life for us. God the Father is the source and fountain of all love. This love can only be given if we first receive it. You cannot give what you don’t have.
2. Loving our neighbor is the same as loving ourselves.
To love your neighbor as yourself as commanded, you need to measure correctly. This command requires you to measure yourself. You must love yourself to be able to love your neighbor as you are yourself. This is often misunderstood by the body of Christ. This is often confused with dying to oneself and denying oneself as if we have to destroy ourselves. It is false.
Jesus Christ died for every single one of us. Jesus loved us enough to endure what He went through, so we owe Him the obligation to value what He values. It is important to love the one He loves, which is us. Even the Bible says that the Father loves us just as Jesus loves him (John 17:23). We can not love the Father. Being able to love yourself prepares us to love others.
3. Love your neighbor by showing grace
It is not enough to know that God is love and that God loves you. This is something that must be learned. Imagine you had a field with good soil and top-notch seeds. They would produce a crop by themselves. They can’t. No. Grace plants the seeds of His love in our hearts and produces fruit for the kingdom.
According to the Bible, “it is God who works in both us to his will and do of His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2.13). Love Him and love our neighbor. Grace is a grace that helps us to do this. Grace teaches us how to love and respect ourselves and our neighbours. We can freely receive His grace and be able to freely give it.
4. To love your neighbor, you must act with compassion.
Jesus answered the question, “Who’s my neighbor?” with a story about The Good Samaritan. Even those without a love for God can see the value in the story. What is the story’s bottom line? Jesus said that being a neighbor was the best thing. The one who showed compassion.
Compassion is more than a warm fuzzy feeling inside our hearts. Giving compassion does something. Compassion is a movement. To love your neighbor as yourself, you must be moved to do your best to help them.
5. Love your neighbor by looking out for their well-being.
1 Corinthians 13 is translated by the NIV as “love protects.” Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each one of you look not just at his own interests but also those of others.” To love your neighbor as yourself means to care for their wellbeing.
It is important to be attentive and look out for their needs. If they are in need of something, you can help them. You might notice that their clothing tag is visible or that they are eating. Or, something more serious such as when my neighbor’s toddler escaped and ran across the street. I was concerned for his safety so I went over to him. I was just about there when his grandma appeared and rescued him. She thanked me.
6. Serving your neighbor is a sign of love.
Kindness in action is serving from the heart. Kindness is one of the attributes of love listed in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s funny that kindness can be done without kindness living in your heart. If you do the kind thing out of duty, it’s not love.
Jesus said he came to serve (Matthew 20:28). God, who is love came to serve. Love serves. For you to love your neighbor as yourself, you’ll have a heart to serve them. Let them know that you are there for them. You can drive them if they need to go somewhere. You can also take care of their cat or dog while they are out of town. You can also get their mail or take them out for a meal if they aren’t well. In public settings, you might allow people to pass you while waiting in line at the grocery store or in traffic.
7. To love your neighbor, you must speak kindly.
It isn’t true that the childhood rhyme about sticks and stones against words is true. Words can either build up or destroy. Words are the foundation of creation. According to John 1:1, Jesus is the Word according to the Bible.
To love your neighbor as yourself is to use words to build them up. The most obvious example is to encourage someone who’s feeling down. But there are other examples. You can be more deliberate about what you say by looking for the good and magnifying it. If we take the time to search for it, there is always something positive. This could be as simple as a compliment or expressing appreciation to someone.
8. To love your neighbor, you must make allowances for the humanity of others.
Intimidation is as common today as breathing. Criticism is rampant. Criticism isn’t easy to tolerate. Everybody makes mistakes. No one knows everything. All of us are a work in process.
I can remember sitting through a green signal. I didn’t mean to be annoying anyone. Because a loved one died, I was in a constant state of grief. When I see people driving too slowly, sitting at the lights or cutting me off, I can recall feeling that way. They might have a reason. They might just be human beings. We are imperfect creatures that make dumb mistakes all the time.
Love your neighbor by giving them the benefit of the doubt. One example: I saw a woman flailing her arms cursing at me because I didn’t pass an almost red light. I was ahead of her so she stuck with me at the red light. Although I don’t understand why she was so mad, it could have been due to other circumstances. I prayed for her.
9. To love your neighbor, you must share in their sorrows and joys.
According to the Bible, we are instructed to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who grieve (Romans 12-15).
Sometimes, celebrating can be hard for us, especially when our neighbor gets something we long for. A new job, a raise or a pregnancy are all examples of what it can be like to celebrate. It is a powerful way to show love and support them, even in the midst of their pain.
The same goes for you. If we aren’t sure what to say or have lost someone or something recently, it can be difficult to mourn with our neighbor. Being there for your neighbor is showing love and compassion, and allowing them to be who they are.
10. To love your neighbor, you must be kind and forgiving.
God is very concerned about forgiveness. According to the Bible, He had it planned for us since the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:14). Jesus often spoke of forgiveness for others, which resulted in healing their bodies.
Forgiveness is freely given to us and to love your neighbor as yourself you’ll pass the forgiveness on. Jesus highlighted this in His story in Matthew 18 when Peter asks how many times is he to forgive. He recounts the story about a king who forgives a huge debt to his servant. The servant did not accept the forgiveness. He demanded that his neighbor pay a small amount of debt. The king learned of the situation and ordered his servant to be remanded for the debt. This revoked the debt cancellation. Jesus’ story teaches us that love forgives all.
Forgiveness is something we all need, so forgive your neighbor as you have.
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Conclusion
Jesus told us to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. These are his commands. He loves us. His love can be used to instill love within us, for ourselves and for others. In times of crisis like the one we are currently in, loving communities can be a valuable asset. The article discussed ways to love your neighbor in general.
