LEVITICUS 19:18 (ABP)
I am GOD, so pay attention when I tell to pour as much of your energy into loving your neighbors as you do looking out for yourselves.
LUKE 10:33-34 (MSG)
A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
If a despised Samaritan can sacrificially care for his needy enemy, how much more so will a follower of Jesus get into caring for his needy neighbors.
DAILY FODDER
How do you fool yourself into believing that you value your neighbor with the same intensity as you care for yourself? How do you get past that illusion?
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for sending your Son to come live in our human neighborhood, even though we already had a reputation for being less than neighborly. But your love was so strong that you came anyway. And I am grateful because not only does his incarnation renew our relationship but because he's also shown us the joy of radical neighborly love. Help me as I try to catch on. I'm going to trust your Holy Spirit to show me exactly how to love my neighbor as I love myself. Amen.
Our Father in Heaven,
we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
so that everything that happens here will align
with what is happening in heaven.
and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you would protect us from all forms of evil. Amen!
