Seize the Moment – Day 545
The Second Greatest Commandment!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, September 13.
Do you love your neighbor as yourself?
This concept comes from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 22:37-40, when Jesus responded to a lawyer’s question about the most important commandment in the Levitical Law:
And [Jesus] said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Listen to verses 15-18 and learn the fullness of Jesus’ teaching when quoting verse 18 as the second greatest commandment:
You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord. You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
This teaches me that loving my neighbor is more than being nice and friendly; it is about justice, fairness, honesty, integrity, charity, and forgiveness.
Seize the moment and love others with the heart of God! Obedience to the second greatest commandment will change the world because it will first change you.