Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 12-13

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8-10

This morning, I continued my study of Romans.  Using my commentary - Exalting Jesus in Romans (eBook) - I continued with chapter sixteen Living in View of That Day, which covers Romans 12:17-13:14.  My focus today is v13:8-10, which my commentary refers to under the heading "Love Your Neighbor." Perhaps underpinning my post yesterday, which discusses how to submit to earthly authorities, as they placed in our lives by God, today we see the primacy of love above all commands.  This is consistent with Jesus' words in Matthew 22:34-40 where the Jewish leaders sought to test/trap Jesus by asking him what the most important commandment is; Jesus responds with how we are to first love God, then to love others as "[o]n these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

 

My commentary refers to v13:10 where it says that "love is the fulfilling of the law" by describing the law as "train tracks" whereas the Holy Spirit is the engine: "[w]ithout Christ the law is powerless; without the law, love is directionless.  Because of Christ, the Holy Spirit has been poured into believers' hearts, enabling us to love; and Spirit-empowered love involves keeping God's commands."  We are encouraged to see how loving is a permanent obligation. My commentary points out that both Jesus' and Paul's words (v13:9) on loving others refers back to Leviticus 19:18. We are further encouraged to see how love involves looking for ways to "bless others" - to listen, care, give, etc. 

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of love for me.  It is my proper response to worship You and love others as You love me.  I am so grateful that You love and You first loved me as a sinner - thank You Jesus for such grace and mercy.  I am not deserving of such grace and mercy.  I continue to sin and often fail to love others as You love me.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Portions of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy

Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:16-18

Day 62 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) focuses on directives from God through Moses (Moses' Laws) for the general welfare of the poor, weak, and the stranger - fairness, benevolence, are in focus. 

God wants us to love others as He loves us. 

My commentary* emphasizes how the last of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21) calls for us to avoid even an "attitude" of malice towards our neighbor. 

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) . Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

The words "love neighbor" show up in the Bible at least 11 times.

Jesus refers to love of neighbor as the 2nd most important commandment (Matthew 22:39).

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who has provided us with great neighbors who have loved us and blessed us - thank You Jesus!  I am undeserving of such love and blessings that You provide because I sin...daily, including an oft neglect of the command to love my neighbors.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others (my neighbors) as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” v29

We often look for ways to excuse ourselves from doing something we know we should be doing - such is the case with the expert in the law that questioned Jesus.  Perhaps the expert in the law had someone in mind that he would gladly help but there may be others less desirable to help.  Jon Bloom over at DesiringGod.com gets at this with this post.

It does not matter whether there are difficult people or difficult relationships in our life or whether someone appears to be unlovable - this is not a judgement we get to make as all are worthy of God's love and we should extend this love to all...not saying I do this but I strive to do this - and with God's help I can.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God and You love me - and You love me despite my sin and despite the fact that there are many occasions (more than I like!) when I know I am unlovable - thank You Jesus for Your love - the greatest gift of all time.  I am undeserving of such love as I daily miss the mark.  Please forgive me for failing to be bold in my faith, unashamed in my faith for my other sin.  Please help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Levitcus 19

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. v18

There are many commands the Lord provides Moses but the overriding theme among them is to "[L]ove the Lord Your God with all of Your heart, soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40).

This morning the following verse strikes me as a good example of love.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

 

Jesus is this love to us and He asks us to love others as He loved us.

 

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, I love You and I KNOW You love me...You know everything about me even before I was born...and You know about my sin, yet You willingly laid down Your life for me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not worth such love and sacrifice not by a long shot.  I am selfish.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects from chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Genesis 18

Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? v23

God wants us to love our neighbor (or others) as ourselves (see multiple references here) and of course neighbor should be more broadly interpreted as the community around us.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

We can manifest our love of others by standing up for them when they are unable to defend themselves yet still worthy of defense.  We must demonstrate compassion and mercy.

Lord, please help me demonstrate compassion and mercy and defend those who are unable to defend themselves.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God whose justice is perfect.  Nothing is hidden from You.  Yet at the same time, You are full of compassion, patience, and mercy and often sparing those who know they deserve more harsh punishment.  I am one of those - thank You Jesus.  I am not worthy of such compassion for my sin continues.  I speak harshly of others.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.