Being Neighbors

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."              Galatians 5:14

"Neighbors"  Tew Nai Tong

The whole law? All 613 of the Jewish mitzvot? The Pharisees of the 1st Century were the arbiters of these 613 commandments, and policed their people accordingly. Imagine trying to remember all 613, much less enforce them! Paul points out that there is freedom in Christ, because, in Christ, the law can be boiled down to just one: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Well, that certainly makes things simpler. Or does it?

Loving our neighbors in a contentious election year is tough. Loving our neighbors when they crowd our neighborhoods and schools and judicial system is tough. Loving our neighbors when they do not speak our language or value our cultural norms is tough. 

But life is tough.

And yet, there stands our Lord, whispering, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s the simplest commandment of all, and the most difficult.

Where shall we start?