Tuesday – 20 August 2024
I had a Stray Toaster a little while ago…

Leviticus 19:18 states:

“You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (NIV)

The part of it that stuck in my head was “…you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

There are no stipulations.
There are no qualifiers.
No ifs, ands, or buts.

“…as yourself.”

Period. Full stop.

I thought that I recalled another citation, so I looked it up. Lo and behold, Mark 12:28-31 states:

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

And, there it is. Twice. Big as day and twice as bright. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Which (finally) leads me back to the aforementioned Stray Toaster…

Could it be that so many people today are unable to accept – let alone “love” – their neighbors (or anyone who is different from them, for that matter) because they don’t love themselves OR are unwilling to share that kind of love to someone other than themselves?

Just a little food for thought.