Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

From the series “The Commands of Christ — Love in Action”

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
— Matthew 22:39, NASB 1995

This is not a peripheral command—it is the second greatest, according to Christ Himself. Everything written in the Law and the Prophets hangs on it. And yet it may be the most quoted, least obeyed words in the Church today.

Loving your neighbor is not a theory. It is not a metaphor. It is a command.

Not to admire others from afar.
Not to tolerate them from behind a smile.
But to love them—genuinely, practically, sacrificially.

“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
— Matthew 22:40

The first command is to love God with all your heart. The second is the evidence that the first is true.

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We cannot love God and hate people.
We cannot worship Christ and despise His image-bearers.
We cannot call ourselves faithful disciples while walking past the wounded, the poor, the lonely, or the inconvenient.

The command to love our neighbor is not based on their worthiness, but on God’s worthiness—on what He has done in us and what He now wants to do through us.

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“For the entire Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
— Galatians 5:14

This is love that walks across the street.
Love that listens when it would rather speak.
Love that gives when no one is watching.
Love that welcomes the stranger, feeds the hungry, prays for the broken, and seeks peace when offended.

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The early Church did not love in theory. They loved in deed and truth.

The Epistle to Diognetus (2nd century):
“They share their table with all, but not their bed. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They repay hatred with kindness… and do good to those who harm them.”
— Chapter 5–6

Clement of Rome (c. AD 96):
“Let us be kind to one another according to the compassion and gentleness of Christ… let the strong care for the weak, and the rich provide for the poor, without boasting.”
— 1 Clement, Ch. 38

Their faith was visible. Their love was active. And their neighbors knew it.

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Loving your neighbor means loving the people God has placed near you.
Not just your friends.
Not just the ones who think like you.
But the ones who inconvenience you.
The ones who have nothing to give you in return.
The ones who test your patience, hurt your pride, or sit in silence right next to you.

And yes, it includes the stranger.
Because you were once a stranger to God.
And He welcomed you.

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Love your neighbor.
Not with mere sentiment, but with sacrificial mercy.
Not for recognition, but for Christ’s glory.
Not only in the easy moments, but especially in the hard ones.

This is the love that fulfills the Law.
This is the love that reflects our King.

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📚 Sources & References

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Scripture (NASB 1995):

• Matthew 22:39–40 – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself…”
• Galatians 5:14 – “The whole Law is fulfilled in one word…”

Ante-Nicene Sources:

• The Epistle to Diognetus, Chapters 5–6.
  “They love all men, and are persecuted by all… repay hatred with kindness.”
  [Available at: EarlyChristianWritings.com/diognetus.html]
• Clement of Rome, 1 Clement, Chapter 38.
  “Let us be kind… let the strong care for the weak…”
  [Available at: NewAdvent.org/fathers/1010.htm]