Not Without Cost – The Kingdom Curriculum XVI (7)

Not Without Cost

The second great commandment

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:36, 37

Neighborliness–It Comes at a Price

Jesus became a neighbor to us, Paul wrote, even to the point of death on a cross (Phil. 2:5-11). It’s not likely that being a neighbor to those in need around us will cost us our lives. But it will cost us something. Time. Treasure. Various kinds of risks and inconveniences. Prayer. Perhaps the critical or judgmental looks of those who resent our being and doing what they know they should, but don’t.

Jesus undertook the greatest of all sacrifices for us in order to show us what true neighbor-love is like. Let’s not be naïve about neighborliness. But let’s not be stingy about it, either. Look around you, right where you are. I’ll bet you could find something to bestow on someone around you–a book, a card, a phone call or an email?–that would speak of the love of Jesus, if only you were willing to absorb the cost in time and effort.

Neighbor-love–seeking your neighbors like Jesus sought you–is going to cost you something. But for every act of obedience you invest in the work of loving your neighbor, God will be there with mercy and grace to meet your need and help you succeed.

Let us strive to be better neighbors! Let’s think about neighborliness and pray about it more, and with more specific focus on the people around us. And let’s ask the Lord to make us to everyday opportunities for showing neighbor-love to those around us, and even to those who are far away. We will never regret–nor will our neighbors-in-need–the price we pay for loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Order your copy of The Law of God and The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.