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The Amish Voice 8
understanding, and with all the soul,
and with all the strength, and
to love
his neighbor as himself,
is more than
all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices
.
”
Luke, the doctor, records the
lawyer’s story this way (Luke 10:25-
29): “
Behold, a certain lawyer stood
up, and tempted Him saying, Master,
What shall I do to inherit eternal
life?”
Instead of giving the lawyer an
answer, Jesus asks,
“What is written
in the law?”
To which the lawyer
responds:
Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind; and
thy
neighbor as thyself.
Verse 29 says: …But the lawyer,
willing to justify himself, said unto
Jesus,
And who is my neighbor?
Next, let us move on to the epistles of Paul
and James, where they continue writing
about loving thy neighbor as thyself.
When Paul wrote to the church at
Rome, he said:
Thou shalt not
commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill,
Thou shalt not steal, Thou
shalt not bear false witness,
Thou shalt not covet; and if
there
be
any
other
commandment, it is briefly
comprehended
in
this
saying, namely,
Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself
.
— Romans 13:9
Again, Paul writes to the
church in Galatia:
For all
the law is fulfilled in one
word, even in this;
Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself
. —
Galatians 5:14
Lastly, James writes to the twelve
tribes of Israel:
If ye fulfil the royal
law according to the scripture,
Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
, ye
do well: —
James 2:8
Eight times, God said:
Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself
! Each time, it was a
command; not a suggestion.
Most of us have been taught that we are
not to think of ourselves too highly, and I
believe that is scriptural. Matter of fact, I
don’t like being around people who think
of themselves as better than others. You
probably don’t either. However, when we
look at each one of these verses, we are
told to “
love thy neighbor...
as thyself
.
”
So
what happens if I don't love myself? Can I
still love my neighbor?
Let me ask you a question, friend. If your
love for self
could be measured, using a
scale of 1 to 10, what number would you
give yourself?
If you just gave yourself a 2, 5, or a 7, the
reality is, you will have a very difficult
time loving your neighbor beyond a 2, 5,
or a 7.
Furthermore, if you find yourself tearing
others down and putting a low value on
their lives, you might first look at yourself
and see that it starts with you. First, you
have to love and value your own life.
When you find that you can give yourself
a 9 or 10, you will immediately notice a
difference in how much your value and
love for others increases.
Just in case you think I’m somewhere out
in left field, let me explain what I
don’t
mean by loving self. I
don’t
mean that you
should become puffed up and proud of
yourself. God forbid! That’s worldly love
and, as you already know, God hates it.
The love I’m trying to describe begins
with God. Let’s look at 1 John 4:7-8:
Beloved, let us love one another: for
love is of
[or from]
God
; and every one
that loves is born of God, and knows
God. He that loves not knows not
God; for
God is love
.
Consider these facts:
Loving others is dependent on us
knowing God.
The level of love and value I place
on self and others goes back to how
well I’ve accepted God’s love.
If I have a hard time receiving
God’s love, I will have a hard time
loving who I am. If I have a hard
time loving who I am, I will have a
hard time loving my neighbor.
So, if I’m having a hard time loving my
neighbor, I have to go back to the very
beginning; that is, I must learn how to
receive the love that flows from the throne
of God.
You might ask, how do I do that? I
believe it goes back to God’s Word. If
you do not read God’s word, your faith in
God will become weak and begin to
struggle. When your faith in God
struggles, so will your life in the area of
loving self and others.
Our understanding of love begins with the
most frequently quoted verse in the Bible:
Loving thy neighbor, continued from Page 16
(Back Cover)
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