How to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Love your neighbor as yourself.
It’s not the easiest commandment Jesus gave us.
Especially when you have 7 people under one roof!
Things get borrowed and not returned, sometimes new items get broken and other times, people just wake up in a bad mood. Regardless of our differences or situations, Jesus declares that loving our neighbor is just as important as loving God Himself. And if we have any question as to who our neighbor is, He makes His point very clear in the Story of the Good Samaritan.
God cares about how we treat others.
Sometimes it’s easy to love those closest to us, while other times….not so much.
Recently one of my sons borrowed my tweezers. Let me start by saying, I like my stuff organized, and touching my possessions without permission is frowned upon in the Nicaud house. Another note worth mentioning is that I use these said tweezers to pluck my eyebrows. So you can imagine the horror when I saw my son trying to get a splinter out of his foot…. after he had been walking barefoot in the woods behind my house.
EWWWWWWW!!!
I would love to say my immediate response was to love this “neighbor” of mine and exude all the loving qualities mentioned in Ephesians 4:32.
However, something quite the opposite came out.
It may have begun something like this, “WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING???????”
Of course, my tone said it all.
How to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
After ranting and raving and making him understand how I really felt about his actions, I went into my room to sulk. Not because of how I behaved, that would come a few minutes later. No, my pity party was thriving because I now I had to go to the store for the umpteenth time and buy another $2.00 pair of tweezers.
Looking back, that was probably just a little selfish (ok, a lot!) and blown way out of proportion.
After all, it’s just tweezers, right?
I’m guessing this is what Peter was referring to when he asked Jesus, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” (Matthew 18:21)
Clearly, someone had been taking his stuff!
While replaying the situation over in my head, I thought, What could I have done to be more loving? How can I respond differently the next time someone trespasses on my territory and chooses to nab one of my beloved items?
One important lesson that came to mind was: Think before I speak.
Doing this allows me to go through a process of questions to determine if my response is going to be godly or fleshy.
I could ask myself…what would Jesus do? Really. Would he have yelled at someone who stole his $2.00 tweezers? Probably not. Most likely He would have offered to get the splinter out for him.
Would he have thrown a temper tantrum because He had to go to the store to buy another pair? Again, probably not. Most likely He would have chalked it up as a sacrifice made to help someone in need.
That’s what needs to change in me. My perspective of violations.
Rather than immediately seeing my hurt, perhaps I could see their need.
Definitely easier said than done!
God in all His wisdom, knew that relationships would be hard. He knew what He was asking us to do would not come naturally to us.
I believe He designed it that way.
If it’s not easy in our flesh, we have to rely on Him to accomplish it.
The more time we spend with Him in all his perfection, the more tolerant we’ll be with others in all their imperfections.
Looking for some love your neighbor verses? Here are a few to read and memorize:
Galatians 5:14
Romans 13:8-10
Mark 12:31
Luke 6:27
Matthew 22:37-40
James 2:8
Think before we speak is a theme of my week..I blurted out a hurtful comment to my husband this week! Loving others begins by being rooted in God, and giving up our petty concerns –your tweezer story says it all–is key to loving our neighbor..and our loved ones (which is our testing ground1). So glad to visit you from next door at #IntentionalTuesday
Yes, relationships are hard…and with children,sometime impossible! I think the tweezer thing would have grossed me out too. I would have soaked them in alcohol and peroxide!
Coming to you today from #raralinkup.
Christy, I totally did! I disinfected those things several times! Just like a boy not to think twice about using them. =)
So true – just reading Colossians this week about putting on that love. And a great quote by CS Lewis – we don’t have to love our neighbor – just start acting like we do and the love will follow.
hardest in families, I think! thanks, sue
It’s definitely harder with family Sue! Thanks for visiting today!
Visiting from #TellHisStory this week! Enjoyed reading of daily life, family and attitude adjustments in your household, which is no different from any of ours, really. And thanks for being open and transparent. It is an encouragement to all. Blessings!
Alisa – Thank you for sharing today at #ThoughtProvokingThursday – – I love your sight and the verse in your header as well. Think before speak is definitely something we all need a reminder about. I love this: The richness of our relationship with God, will directly determine the quality of our relationship with others. Again thank you for sharing today and doing so transparently
Thank you Debbie for your kind words! And thank you for stopping by today!
Oh my! Relationships can be some of the biggest, most difficult things in our lives.
Hi Alisa. To be reminded of this: “Think before I speak” alone is inspirational for me. Your post speaks well of the struggles we all have in relationship with others. And it’s so true that when we spend more time in God’s company, our hearts will be softened toward others because we see our own faults and failings mirrored in them but can react and respond more out of love than from the flesh. Thank you for your words. I’m blessed to be your neighbour at #TellHIsStory! 🙂
Thanks Joy! I’m so glad you stopped by! =)
This can be such a hard lesson to learn! I have blown up at my children or husband way too many times over things that ultimately did not matter. I am so thankful for their grace and forgiveness at those times. I am also so glad that God continues to work in my heart on this matter. I seriously have put up a sign in our house in the shape of a stop sign with the words THINK on it. Is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary or Kind. It was as much for me as it was for my children at the time.
Rashel, I need that for my house! Yes, I’m so grateful that God keeps working on this with me too! He’s faithful to not let us stay where we are, but to keep leading us to greatness. Thanks for stopping by!
There are so many “explosions” I wish I could take back over the years. Thankfully, my husband and daughter are very forgiving, but still, I regret them. When I started to homeschool, I had a friend tell me, “You will be so surprised how much you will learn.” I was thinking, “Really? It’s 2nd grade.” It didn’t take long for me to figure out she meant, “You will be surprised how much God will teach you” and it had nothing to do with academics!
Wow, that’s a good word Wendy! God has definitely taught me some things through homeschooling! Just as I was molding and sculpting my kids behavior, He was right there doing the same with me! I don’t know about you, but patience has been a big one for me! Thanks for stopping in today!
Yes, I can relate! I have three girls who borrow my things – including my tweezers and nail clippers – often without asking. Thank goodness for hot, soapy water!
My girls are younger, but they are just starting with the “borrowing” of my things! I’m sure there will be lots of hot, soapy water in my future!
Hi Alisa!
I am visiting you today as your neighbor on WeekendWhispers Linkup! I am so identify with your post. I feel that many things can be used for many things, but some things really are to be used for only one purpose! These things do, in fact, challenge us in how we love. Thanks for the great reminder!
Blessings today,
Pam
You are so right Pam!! Tweezers are one of those things! Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
My family just listened to a sermon yesterday on loving others. The one point that stood out to me was when the pastor said that we can only love others when we look at them through the lens of the Gospel.
I can completely relate with the little things setting you off. It’s difficult; especially when there are so many people in the house! 🙂
Great post!
~Haley
Yes Haley! They loved to borrow things without asking, but God is helping me to let these little things go!! Thanks for stopping by! ☺️
Love this! EWWWWWWWWW! I am with you. Sadly, I would have been with you on my immediate response. And after all, it is just…. always ends up being the reality of most situations. I completely need to work on the gentle part. My first response is never as gentle as I hoped it would be. Thank you for sharing with us at Sitting Among Friends on Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you again this week.
Me too Jaime! I definitely need to work on being more gentle. I look forward to linking up this week!