Loving our neighbor isn't hard, it's impossible.

We must have a sense of meaning, purpose, and value to function as we were designed to. Without this, life is pointless. 

We normally obtain this through our achievements. This isn't bad or wrong, but part of how we are wired. However, it is insufficient if we draw our sense of value primarily and only from what we do. Why?

Our primary source of meaning, purpose, and value is God himself. We were created to love God and be loved by God 1st and then to love our neighbors 2nd. To gain a sense of meaning, purpose, and value exclusively or primarily through being valued-loved-admired by other finite creatures is contrary to who we are and how we are wired. Operating in this way does not address our core need for infinite love. Other finite beings cannot give infinite love. By design and definition, a creature is a finite being.

Now consider this; if everyone committed to loving, appreciating, and valuing their neighbor as themselves, we would all be loved by our neighbors? Problem solved, right?

"Hey neighbor, start loving me as yourself! That’s what the commandment says. What are you waiting for?" 

The focus of this commandment however is for us to love them, not demand others love us. 

There is one significant problem, however,

we don't love our neighbor the way we love ourselves!  On occasion, we might but in pockets or bits and pieces. By and large, this doesn’t happen and hasn't happened on a global scale. The world is still a mess. War, starvation, fear, distrust, etc. continue unabated.

We've all heard of calls for unity, peace, and love, especially in times of greatest discord and division. There have even been songs written about it. You may recall John Lennon's song "Give Peace a Chance" with the regular refrain, "all we are saying..." as if it is no big deal to achieve. The Beatles also sang "All You Need is Love." The lyrics even said, "it's easy." Or you may recall the song "We Are the World" by several high-profile musical artists. These are all lovely sentiments and worthy goals. The desire expressed by each is noble and right, in fact, it is what we are created for. This is not only what we need but part of who we are and what we are designed for.

Yet, the world is still a mess. So why don’t we all simply do this? If it were easy, I think we would.

The problem is, if we think we can all merrily start loving each other without being connected to the Source of love, we do not understand the human condition. This is like being told to give our neighbor a drink of water when our own water is shut off. Dr. Larry Crabb once said that most people go into a relationship like ticks looking for a dog. However, there is only one problem... we are all ticks. We cannot give something we don't have i.e. infinite, selfless (sacrificial) love. The only way we can love our neighbor as we were designed to and in the way our neighbor needs us to, is to be fully engaged in loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And that will not happen unless we experience God’s love first. Loving God first is the greatest commandment for good reason.  We cannot love God in this way until we see that he has loved us in ¹this way. In short, absent God's sacrificial love, we are not able to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are too busy tending to our own emptiness and need for love.  When push comes to shove, if God's love is not in our hearts we take care of number one i.e. ourselves. We only love sacrificially when we see we have been loved sacrificially.  And we have been. Love has a name. It's ¹Jesus!

For a further discussion on how God empowers us, click here

For a further discussion on how God's Spirit works within ours, click here. 

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*Has God loved us with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength?  Yes!! When!? In and through Christ.