How do you love your ‘neighbor’?
Of all the teachings of my faith. The one that seems mentioned often is to ‘love thy neighbor’ - and it is the most difficult of all the teachings for me to follow.
You can approach that teaching in the idea of the golden rule- as, do unto others as you would have them do unto you…however, I feel it goes deeper than that.
Yes the ‘golden rule’ is important and would be lovely if the world could follow that-
But when the teaching says to love your neighbor. I feel it goes much deeper. God wants us to LOVE everyone. We are all his creatures- creations. Good and bad.
We are created from love. And I feel that God wants us to love each-other as much as he loves us.
It’s easy for me to love- someone who is kind- someone who does good in the world- my family-
but the difficulty for me comes when it’s someone who is opposite your ideals- morals- disrespectful- who does harm- etc… how do you love that?
As I’m evolving and getting older. I feel the only way to do this is to humble myself. Humble myself by knowing I’m not better than any one individual- to know that deep inside each one of us is a soul and a heart and as misguided as someone’s actions are. They are still a part of creation- and created for some purpose that most likely is greater than we will ever know.
So how do you love your ‘neighbor’?
Teach me to be a better lover.
Sanatana
You make a very good point! Loving someone who is kindhearted is easy. Loving a neighbor like, say, Pat, is a different matter altogether.
It's something we need to practice constantly. We can start by not talking badly about anyone and trying to, if not love, at least respect and know they are part of the big picture, and also God's work.
Mount Horeb
Agreed-yes talking bad about others- judging etc., brings us out of humbleness and more egocentric, and self aggrandizing.
Good point. Respect. Is key.
Evangel
Thank you for raising this important question. I think a lot of people struggle with this question.
If someone is hard for me to love, I ask myself: in what way am I like them?
If their behavior is anathema to me, I wonder: when have I behaved that way?
When there is unimaginable evil in someone’s actions—I pray for understanding and that they be forgiven.
If someone’s values oppose mine, I accept there are many influences in the world that shaped them. It’s a good reminder that my values are a blessing.
Mount Horeb
Very well said. Good insight to keep in mind.
Well Street
https://youtropolis.com/city/well-street/knowledge/love-thy-neighbor-fir...
Here is an article I recently wrote about this topic. In it, I discuss the importance of extending love and kindness to ourselves. Doing so makes it much easier to feel open and less judgmental toward our neighbors.
Mount Horeb
Thank you for sharing. I can use this outlook on my daily interactions, to know that some of the people that I meet thru my day to day May be lacking in self love. And act out.
Recently to make time pass as I’m helping people at work is to try and get them to open up a little and I learn some fun things. I can see them start smiling when they let me in on a some of their loves or hobbies.
One woman- an elderly woman admitted she loved Godzilla movies from the 60’s
One man told me he loved watching western tv shows- and that was the last thing I expected this young guy to tell me….
So connecting to people in a more personal way- i feel for some of these patients that come in, really give them a lift.
I’ve come a long way for self love. But more than self love- in my maturing it’s more so of acceptance of myself and the person I am- with no comparing to others to make me feel less than.
Still a work in progress however. And that’s okay.
Slipstream
When I'm totally present in what I'm doing, not thinking about what happened yesterday, last week, last year, or projecting myself into the future, it's much easier to be open to the people around me. Having a smile, giving a compliment, just feeling friendly is a form of love that can easily be given to "neighbors" here, there, and everywhere.
Mount Horeb
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