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Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

You are called to love your neighbor. Jesus said it was equal to the greatest commandment.

Who is your neighbor? What is your responsibility to your neighbor?

Listen

“You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you so that you will be acting as children of your Father who is in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the evil and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Matthew 5:43-45

Think

All of us have heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — the soundtrack of the great Civil Rights movement of the last century. King’s dream united more than just people of different races, but every unique human on the planet under the achievable reality of equality and justice.

Before MLK, Jesus gave a “dream” speech. We call it the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus lays out his vision for a dream society. One in which love is the unrivaled value of a people that lead a subversive revolution to dethrone a culture established upon self-absorption. Sound familiar?

In his speech Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say…” And every part of Jesus’s dream resounds with, “But I say…”

Anyone can love their friends and hate their enemies. So in his vision, Jesus made everyone your neighbor. Not the person closest to you, and not the person you like the most — but everyone. The revolution starts here: Love Every One.

Jeremy Sims

Pray

Jesus, you are a revolutionary not just in your life and death, but in the fact that you believe that this world can look like your dream society. I have a role, and I know that my role starts first with loving my neighbor, which is everyone, including my enemies. Make me a revolutionary and instill your love in me. Amen.

Go

Go and love.

Go and value the other image bearers of God around you.

Believe the best in your neighbor.