Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

"Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matthew 25:44-45

Because we are all members of the Body of Christ, whatever good or bad we do, we do to Jesus. A sobering thought isn't it? Empathy and sympathy in our lives come from the Grace of God that we have learned from the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are in this life together for better or worse. The prayers of the body enrich us while the sins of the world drain us. And more than anything else, the love of Jesus lifts us and enables us because we belong to Christ.

The commandment "love your neighbor as yourself" requires a basic sense of fairness in living our human lives. Jesus asks even more of us when he told us "love one another as I have loved you". The cross reminds us that Christ gave so much more than basic human fairness. Jesus gave it all.

As you encounter individuals today, pay attention. If you believe that Jesus is in each of them, how differently will that belief make your interactions? Will it make a difference in who you love or don't love today?

PRAYER: Dear God, today turn my head and heart around back to you.  Teach me your justice, give me your peace. Help me to love those you bring into my life. Help me to love like you. Amen