Jun 23, 2020
By Sarina Gumness
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
—Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV)
Love is the greatest commandment. As I look into the world today, I feel like we’ve forgotten this commandment and have focused on our opinions and reasoning. I am guilty of it as well. But
it is told to us that this is the most important, so why do we forget it? We are to act as Christ, and Christ has always been accepting to anyone he comes across and never shows hatred. He listens to the people before stating his thoughts. We should be listening with an open mind and an open heart just like him.
We are shown in stories like the parable of the Samaritan how we should act—he defined mercy for us as the care and concern shown by the Samaritan. In response to the story, Jesus asks, “Who was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robber.” It is replied, “the one who had mercy on him.” Jesus then says, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). The Parable itself is called the Good Samaritan because the Samaritan was good. We look at Jesus and he himself is Good. Then it is simple to say we ourselves should be good. We should be living life to be reflected on as “good.” We should love those we see every day despite our personal opinions. No one should be rejected because our Father himself does not reject anyone. He is accepting to all.
I leave you with these thoughts. How can I be more accepting in my daily life? What changes can I make? Am I truly loving my neighbor? What neighbors have I not shown love to?