Authentic – Part 4 – Loving Your Neighbor

WARM-UP

One thing in life that’s really easy to do is seeing the faults in others. It’s easy to judge, criticize, hold grudges, get irritated, assume. It’s easy to worry about yourself and get lost in your own messes without thinking about someone else’s. It’s easy to not care about other people, to be consumed about yourself and not be bothered by others. But here is the glaring fact, as clear as the sunshine in the sky: God commanded us to love even the most unlovable. In fact, the great commandment is to love God and your neighbor. The question is, would you be willing to love others, those who are difficult to love, just as Christ has loved the unworthiest of us?

ONE BIG  IDEA

ANYTHING SHORT OF LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS WOULD BE SHORT OF LOVING OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.

 STUDY (Matthew 22:37-39 ESV)

“37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

LEARN:

The Bible teaches us that it is impossible to be a Christian without love for your neighbor/brother/sister. We are commanded in a letter wrote to the Hebrew Christians: Hebrews 13:1 – “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.” (NIV)

IMPORTANCE OF LOVE

A. First Love (1 John 4:19)

One of the important things we need to understand about Love, is that “God loved us first”. And He proclaimed it loudly on Calvary’s Hill (John 3:16). God himself put all the cards on the table, and said, “First of all, I Love You!” When we first started our relationship with Jesus Christ, what we did was, we simply said, “I love you too Jesus” and a relationship started. Our relationship with God is based on the word LOVE. Without Love, we have NO relationship!

B. Father’s Love (1 John 4:20)

How do we put feet to the thought of loving our Heavenly Father? Simple! According to this passage: LOVE YOUR BROTHER/SISTER! Now notice it did not say: for he who does not LIKE his brother; or for he who does not HELP his brother; or for he who is not NICE to his brother. We can LIKE but we don’t love. We can help without love.  We can be nice with people but it can be done without love. But the word of the Lord says, “for he who does not love his brother…whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen”

IMPLEMENTING LOVE

A. Forgiving Love (Luke 17:3-4)

All of us are sinners. We’re all saved by the love of Jesus. We’re forgiven of our sin because God loves us. We are all in need of forgiveness. If we are to demonstrate the love of Jesus in our lives, if we are to love our brothers, then forgiveness is not an option. But maybe you’re saying, “Pastor, you do not know the extent of pain he or she has caused me!” “You do not know the heartache he inflicted in me! When he was in need, I helped him.  But now that I am in need, it’s as if I’m a stranger.”

Psalm 55:12-14 – “12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me – then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me – then I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. 14 We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng (ESV).”We all go through hard times as believers of Jesus. Maybe, my pain or hurt is unique to my situation, just as yours is to you. When someone hurts you, the best way to get over that hurt is to FORGIVE! We are often caught in the trap of UNFORGIVENESS, we won’t let go of it. Yes, it is painful, it really hurts. But you have to LET GO!

How are we going to REACT to our hurt/pain?” A lot of us are SCARED to forgive others because of the SCARS they caused us. The hole in the hand of Jesus when He was crucified on the cross for us did not bother Him. So why should we be bothered with the scars that other people have caused us? Jesus Himself bore the scars as a reminder of the pain He had to go through so we can be saved. The SCARS of Jesus shout His LOVE and FORGIVENESS for us. So, we should not be afraid to get scars. We should not be afraid to love again no matter how many times we get hurt.

B. Future Love (Luke 10:5-9)

Christ is our only hope. Jesus is the only HOPE for our neighborhood, our town and our nation. Can you imagine facing LIFE without Jesus? Can you imagine facing DEATH without Him? Probably not! But so many of our neighbors go through each day without that relationship with the Son of God that is so vital to us. The question is, how can we reach them? Reaching our neighbors with LOVE and sharing the Gospel to them will probably take many of us beyond our comfort zones. Consider non-Christians with GODLY COMPASSION. Remember that none of them is beyond the reach of God’s touch through you.

HOW AM I GOING TO EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR MY NEIGHBORS?

1. BLESS MY NEIGHBORS

Luke 10:5, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house (ESV)!’” Here we’re told to bless our neighbors. Our assignment is to speak peace over them in prayer. We can bless them with food. We can bless them by being a good friend.

2. KNOW MY NEIGHBORS

Luke 10:7a – “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide (ESV).” We need to get to know our neighbors by getting closer to them. We can get to know them through genuine fellowship. We can invite them for dinner and have a chat with them.

3. HELP MY NEIGHBORS

Luke 10:9a – “Heal the sick… (ESV).”  The healing we can offer in Jesus’ name certainly includes physical healing. But it also means we extend care toward our neighbors who may be suffering with damaged relationships, or whose lives have been injured by loss and failure. We should discern our neighbor’s needs as God enables us. But the greatest way to Love your neighbor is by…

4. WIN MY NEIGHBORS

LUKE 10:9b – “…The kingdom of God has come near to you.” We have to be a witness of Christ. We need to anticipate the time when God gives us the opportunity to share our testimony with a particular neighbor. In a sense, when you’re witnessing for Jesus you’re actually saying, “The Kingdom of God is near you – Jesus is the answer to entering God’s Kingdom!”

Grow:

Application Questions

1. Take a look at your priorities—is there anything taking a more prominent place in your life than your relationship with God? How is your current relationship with God impacting the quality of your relationships with other people?
2. Why did Jesus compare loving God the same as loving others? Why do you think Jesus tells you to “love your neighbor as yourself”? What do you think “love” toward your neighbor actually looks like practically?
3. Think deeply about the command to love your neighbor. Who are the people that God has placed in your life for you to love? Are there any people on this list that you find difficult to love? What keeps you from loving them? How can you show them in practical ways that you love them?

PRAY FOR EACH OTHER IN YOUR GROUP