LEARNING TO LOVE OUR
NEIGHBOR
“Dear
friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and
those who are loving and kind show that they are children of God, and that they
are getting to know Him better.” 1 John 4:7 (LB)
As the pastor concluded his
homily with the admonition that “We are
to love our neighbor as ourselves”, I heard a voice from a neighboring pew
mutter “He must have a different kind of neighbor than mine; that so and so
living next door to us is worthless!”
At first I was a mite chagrined by his pithy observation, but as I
reflected a bit, I realized that it is true that some people are more difficult
to love than others. What is the
solution? Love some and dislike the
others? Our Lord command does not seem
to allow such exceptions. Further, He states: “This is how everyone
will recognize that you are my disciples---when they see the love you have for
each other.” (John 13:34 Msg.)
I believe we waste time when we
fret whether we ‘love’ our neighbor or not; rather we should act like we
do! As soon as we start doing this, we
will discover a great secret: When we are behaving as if we love someone, we
will presently (it might take awhile) love him. Instead of trying to manufacture feelings of love, ask yourself,
“If I did love him, what would I do?”
When you find the answer, start doing it! At first it will seem a bit uncomfortable, maybe even your neighbor
will be surprised but keep at it; it will become natural!
Everyone
believes that love is important; but love is usually thought of as a
feeling. In reality, love is a choice
and an action. Love involves a
concern for the welfare of others and it is not called forth by any
quality of lovabilityness in the person
loved, but is the product of a will to love in obedience to our Lord’s
command. When we became Christians, we
received the Holy Spirit and He gives us power to love. (Romans 5:5, 8:9; and 2
Corinthians 1:22) All we need is to
rely on that power and as we reach out to others.
The second “secret” in learning
to love our neighbor is to eliminate the sobriquet ‘so and so’ and address him in your thoughts and actions by his proper
name. As long as we fail to eradicate
the epithet ‘so and so’ from our mind, we will continue to deny him of his personage and neglect to
see him as a fellow child of God and therefore worthy of our love.
In conclusion, a life of love
reflects a deliberate choice on our part.
We must choose this lifestyle against our natural bent for self-centerness. Soon with the Holy Spirit’s helping us, our
new way of life becomes natural behavior and will be reflected in the lives of
those around us. In the meanwhile, let us
try to internalize the wisdom of John and “practice loving each other”.