Leviticus 19:18 - You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Think of all the ways that you love yourself everyday. You take care of your body by keeping it clean. You brush your teeth so that they don’t rot. You keep yourself warm and protect your body by getting dressed. You even dress yourself a certain way so that you look presentable so that you don’t feel like a fool. You feed yourself multiple meals throughout the day. You drink water so that you don’t die. All of these examples are things that we might think we just do because it’s a normal part of the day, but really, you do them because you care about yourself.
Now, it’s also true that if you are frustrated with yourself or even hate certain parts of yourself that you may not take care of yourself as much as you would otherwise. In a sense, when we hold grudges against ourselves, we can “let ourselves go” as people say. In general though, we typically take care of ourselves even if we are upset with who we are or the choices we’ve made. This is because on some level, we recognize that we want to live, and so we love ourselves enough to do what we can to make that happen.
Now, consider what this kind of love looks like towards others. We have plenty of opportunities to bear grudges or desire vengeance when it comes to the relationships that we have. Whether that be co-workers, family, friends, or our actual next-door neighbors, we make choices everyday about how we think of them and how we interact with them. What God has called us to is this amazing statement, “love your neighbor as yourself”. This is a fundamental principle in God’s law and we see it quoted by Jesus, Paul and James, to name a few.
What we are called to do is care for others the way we care for ourselves. We don’t do that perfectly, but we rarely neglect our own needs completely. In like manner, whoever our neighbor is, we cannot neglect them either. We of all people should care about what is happening in the lives of those who surround us, because we know how difficult this world is, but we also have hope for this life through Christ. We struggle with love in general, whether that is towards ourselves or others, but God shows us in his word what authentic love is and how to show it.
Today you can choose to hold on to grudges against those in your life, or you can choose to love them. Holding on to grudges is like slowly drinking a bottle of poison that you think will make your hurts feel better, but it is actually making you worse. To love as Christ loved is to give of yourself, even if that same love is not returned to you.
We love our neighbors because any other option leads to more sorrow in the long run. We love our neighbors because we have been greatly loved by our great God. We love our neighbors because they too are human beings made in the image of God. We love our neighbors because we want them to know the wonderful love of God that we have received. Find your strength to love others in Christ today, and find hope in the fact that his love is working through you to accomplish great things in your life and the lives of those around you.
