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Your Question:
What does it mean to 'love our neighbors as ourselves' in a chaotic world of conflicting values?
Answer:
As I reflect on the concept of loving our neighbors as ourselves in a chaotic world of conflicting values, I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:39, where He commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. This commandment is not about loving everyone equally, nor is it about loving those we feel a predilection towards or those who are part of our own group. Rather, it's about loving the person right in front of us, the one who needs our help, our kindness, and our compassion. The key to understanding this commandment is to recognize that our love for our neighbor is not a feeling, but an action. As C.S. Lewis so eloquently puts it, "Do not waste time bothering whether you love your neighbor; act as if you did." When we act with kindness, generosity, and compassion towards our neighbor, we begin to develop a genuine love for them. This love is not a sentimental feeling, but a deep commitment to the well-being of the person in front of us. In a world where values are often in conflict, loving our neighbor as ourselves requires us to prioritize the needs of others over our own desires and interests. It means extending the same love and care to our neighbor that we would want for ourselves. This is not a romantic notion, but a practical application of the Golden Rule, which Jesus teaches us to do to others as we would have them do to us. By loving our neighbor as ourselves, we become part of a community bound together by love, interdependent and responsible for one another in every facet of life.
Sources:
biblical critical theory
christopher watkin
leviticus
jay slklar
meaning of marriage
timothy keller
introduction biblical ethics
robertson mcquilkin
kingdom of cults
walter martin
mark
eckhard schnabel
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