LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF

Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

I dreamed of a large screen in the sky and there appeared a man. The Lord asked me, “What do you see?” I answered “I see a man.” He asked again “What do you see in his face?’ I answered “I see sincerity and kindness. A good man.” Suddenly, on the screen, there appeared some words next to the man that I could not understand. I asked,” What do these words mean?” He answered “This man tried very hard with his own strength to obey the Ten Commandments. But he could only obey nine of them. He failed to obey one of them. This is why I have come: to help obey them all.

The word “love” signifies a compassionate, merciful love the way God loves us. No human can, or will ever be able to, comply with this commandment on his own. Love your neighbor as yourself. This commandment can only be obeyed through the love of Jesus Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might or by power, but by my Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts”. We must not depend on our own strength. We must rely on God and move in the power of the Holy Spirit.

What the Lord showed by this dream is our daily struggles as human beings, which can be identified as selfishness; thinking only of oneself. This is why the ego is contrary to the love of God. In Matthew 5:43-44, Jesus teaches to love our enemies. “You have heard that it is said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those that hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

If we do not comply with this commandment, we are not sons of God. To love is to give without expecting something in return. Acts 20:35 I have shone you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

So how can we love our neighbor and our enemy? We must see them as imperfect human beings, not perfect. Even though they think they are perfect. Accept them the way they are. Because we are all imperfect. Accepting others with their faults and loving them as we would love ourselves. Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

We can recognize God: “I Am who I Am”. We can recognize His existence. Exodus 3:14. But from there to what the bible says: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. In these times we can confuse “to love someone” with “to like someone”. “To love” is connected with “to do” what God wants. To do God’s will. John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments. 1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also”. The proof of our love for God shows in the way we treat the ones who are closest to us. John 3:16. The love of God is not selfish. God established the model of true love and the basis of every relationship is Jesus Christ.