Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - The Second Most Disobeyed Command In the Bible?

The two greatest commandments in the Bible include loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself. While many people boast of loving God (or give an hour to Him on Sunday anyway), we don't have to look very far to conclude that the majority of us do not do a good job loving our neighbor as ourselves. I took some time to poll some friends of mine and asked them a very basic question: "What typically keeps you from loving your neighbor as yourself?"

See if you can relate to any of their responses:

• "I get so involved with my own problems that I don't even take the time to think about anyone else around me."
• "I'm so exhausted at the end of the day after pouring myself into my kids, my husband, and others close to me that I don't have anything left in my emotional cup to give to anyone else."
• "It is easy to compare ourselves to others and if we feel they are doing better than we are, we end up becoming envious of them and cannot love them the way we should."
• "It's really a combination of a lot of things. For me, it comes down to a trust issue. Having been burned so much in the past, I refuse to stick my neck out there and take a chance on getting hurt again. If you are truly my friend, I'll do anything in the world for you, but making it on that list is another issue."
• "It's really hard for me to love my neighbor because I feel like most of the time he doesn't really deserve it."

For what it's worth, here's my take on it. We don't love our neighbor as ourselves because we don't love ourselves. At least, not in a way that God intended. While we battle one extreme of the pendulum being completely self-absorbed and full of our own ego, I'm convinced that most of us reading this blog find ourselves on the other extreme of the pendulum. We are not able to look in the mirror on any given day and truly appreciate and respect the person we see looking back at us. I'm not referring to the physical features we've ended up with, though that might be included in the mix. It has to do with the broken person we've become on the inside that we wish was so radically different.

Here are some suggested ways that, when put into practice, can help us break out of the mold we have cast and begin to truly love our neighbor as ourselves:

• Look up from your lunch and notice the people around you. They, like you, have feelings, emotions, problems, struggles, and imperfections. Find ways to add value to their lives.
• Re-define who your neighbor is. While you will certainly have opportunities to impact the people closest to you, consider people from around the world who may not be as fortunate as you and do something about it. Ultimately, every person on the planet is your neighbor.
• Try not to leave the house for the day without getting an adequate refill. And I'm not talking about coffee, but about spending time feeding on God's word and allowing Him to fill you up with strength and wisdom for another day. You cannot love others in your own strength for very long and you certainly cannot give to others what you do not have.
• Ask Jesus to love the unlovable through you. This doesn't mean that you have to find ways to spend time with your enemies. It does mean that when you have to interact with people who are unpleasant to be around, you trust Jesus to give you the strength to keep your mouth shut when you want to blurt something inappropriate out. It also means being kind in our mannerisms and spirit.
• Invite Jesus into the pain and wounds that are buried deep within your heart and allow Him to begin to heal you. Hurting people hurt other people.

Ultimately, our love for others is a byproduct of our love for God. And for all of us, this is the first place we need to look for a deficiency before we can attempt to truly love our neighbor.