“You Must Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” ???

[Bible Speaks]

"Love is..........."(1 Cor 13:4-7) 

“You Must Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”

“The second [commandment] is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’”—MATT. 22:39.

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HOW WE CAN SHOW NEIGHBOR LOVE

Offer people spiritual help. We do this by endeavoring to direct their attention to heartening “comfort from the Scriptures.” (Rom. 15:4) Unquestionably, we are being neighborly when we share Bible truth with others in our preaching activity. (Matt. 24:14) How privileged we are to proclaim the Kingdom message from “the God who gives hope”!—Rom. 15:13.

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Follow the Golden Rule. This rule is expressed in these words spoken by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount: “All things . . . that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them. This, in fact, is what the Law and the Prophets mean.” (Matt. 7:12) When we treat others as Jesus counseled, we act in harmony with the spirit behind “the Law” (Genesis through Deuteronomy) and “the Prophets” (the prophetic books of the Hebrew Scriptures). From such writings it is clear that God blesses those who show love for others. Through Isaiah, for instance, Jehovah said: “Uphold justice, and do what is righteous . . . Happy is the man who does this.” (Isa. 56:1, 2) We are indeed blessed because we act in a loving and righteous manner toward our neighbor.

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Love your enemies. “You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’” said Jesus. “However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens.” (Matt. 5:43-45) The apostle Paul made a similar point when he wrote: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” (Rom. 12:20; Prov. 25:21) According to the Mosaic Law, a person was to help an enemy to free his animal that had fallen under its load. (Ex. 23:5) By working together in such a way, former enemies might become good friends. Because Christians show love, many of our enemies have softened their heart toward us. If we show love for our enemies—even rabid persecutors—how happy we will be if some of them embrace true Christianity!

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9 “Pursue peace with all people.” (Heb. 12:14) Of course, this includes our brothers, for Jesus said: “If . . . you are bringing your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, and go away. First make your peace with your brother, and then come back and offer your gift.” (Matt. 5:23, 24) God will bless us when we show love for our brother and take prompt action to make peace with him.

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Do not be a faultfinder. “Stop judging that you may not be judged,” said Jesus, “for with the judgment you are judging, you will be judged, and with the measure that you are measuring out, they will measure out to you. Why, then, do you look at the straw in your brother’s eye but do not notice the rafter in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to remove the straw from your eye,’ when look! a rafter is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to remove the straw from your brother’s eye.” (Matt. 7:1-5) What a powerful way to tell us not to criticize the small faults of others when we ourselves may have very large faults!

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We have many reasons for loving Jehovah without reservation. There are also numerous ways for us to show love for our neighbor. By displaying love for God and for our neighbor, we are showing respect for what Jesus said about these vital matters. Above all, we are pleasing our loving heavenly Father, Jehovah.

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https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2014446?q=1+cor+13%3A4-6&p=par