Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

The heart of the Gospel is love.  Because of his great love, God sent his Son into the world to seek and save that which was lost.  God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The heart of the Gospel is love. God is love.  

And because God is love, the greatest commandment is to love God and the second one is like it, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It is very clear from Scripture that love for neighbor means sacrificing ourselves to help them in practical ways.  Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to demonstrate this fact.  When the Samaritan saw the man on the road to Jericho who had been beaten by robbers, he stopped, cared for him, bound up his wounds. He even paid for his convalescence in a hotel.  Love is practical.  If love is not practical, it is nothing.

But love is also spiritual. God demonstrates his own love for us by sending his Son to die on a cross so our sins could be forgiven.  God, in his love, defeated Satan by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  These are spiritual realities, but they are just as real as the practical realities of caring for a person who is injured and in pain.

You see, our love for our neighbor comes from our love for God. All love originates in God because God is love.  Now, what does all this mean for us as church planters?

Our churches must be known for both practical expressions of love and spiritual expressions of love. Our churches must be known for extending love to all people, young and old, rich and poor, male and female, from every tribe and ethnic group. And the love our churches extend must be both practical and spiritual.

Churches show practical love when they care for widows and orphans in their distress.  Churches show practical love when they teach non-readers how to read and write.  Churches show practical love when they help their neighbors learn how to grow vegetables and raise chickens profitably.  And these practical expressions of love do not need to be separated from spiritual deeds of love. As we demonstrate love in practical ways, we can tell the spiritual story of the Love of God in Jesus Christ.  As we do so, we will begin to meet both practical and spiritual needs.

Our neighbors do not simply need food and shelter and health (though they truly need these things). Our neighbors need to know the love of God that forgives and heals, the love of Christ that restores and redeems, the love of Christ which brings peace and security in the midst of storms.

So help your church share the love of Jesus in word and deed. Help them the love of Christ in spiritual ways and by practical means. Your church cannot meet every need of every neighbor, but when you listen to the Holy Spirit, he will point out to you some very practical needs you can meet as you continue to share the spiritual message of the love of Jesus.

 

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?

 

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