A Reading from the Bible, the Book of Matthew
Master, which is the great commandment in the
law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and
the prophets. (Matthew
22:36-40 KJV – King James Version)
The Royal Law
A
Compliment to the Second Commandment
If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. (James 2:8 KJV)
There are many other verses in the Bible that
compliment the second commandment, and some of them are the following:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love
one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35 KJV)
This is my commandment, That ye love one
another, as I have loved you. (John 15:12 KJV)
These things I command you, that ye love one
another. (John
15:17 KJV)
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. (Rom 13:8 KJV)
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that
I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. (1Th 4:9 KJV)
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently: (1 Pet 1:22 KJV)
For this is the message that ye heard from the
beginning, that we should love one another. (1 John 3:11 KJV)
And this is his commandment, That we should
believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave
us commandment. (1
John 3:23 KJV)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is
of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. (1 John 4:7 KJV)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to
love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:11-12 KJV)
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I
wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning,
that we love one another. (2 John 1:5 KJV)
Whatever you do to the least of my brethen, so
you do unto me. Feed my sheep (the adults), feed my lambs (the children).
I think that it clear, very clear, that God wants
us to love one another, to love our neighbor as ourselves.
The following poem gives a wonderful teaching:
I Found All Three
I sought my soul
But my soul I could not see.
I sought my God
But my God eluded me
I sought my brother
And found all three.
Here is a story I
especially like:
The Story of Abou Ben Adhem
Abou Ben Adem (may his tribe increase)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw within the moonlight of his room,
Making it rich like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace made Ben Adem bold,
And to the Presence in the room, he said,
“What writest thou?” The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellowmen.”
The Angel wrote and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great awakening of Light
And showed the names whom love of God had blest
And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!
Here is a parable from the
Bible that illustrates how we can love our neighbor and illustrates who is our
neighbor.
The Good Samaritan
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and
tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said unto him, What is written in the law?
how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right:
this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto
Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of
his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest
that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
And likewise a Levite, when he was at the
place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came
where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
And went to him, and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn,
and took care of him.
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out
two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and
whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was
neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then
said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
(Luke 10:25-37)
Each one of us can be a Good
Samaritan, and some of the things that we can do to be a Good Samaritan are:
learn first aid, CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation), foot reflexology or foot
zone therapy, the healing arts, and many other skills to serve our brothers and
sisters.
Furthermore, we can be a Good
Samaritan in almost any job we do; or volunteer for many jobs and truly serve
our brothers and sisters.
An interesting thought is this:
What is meant when Jesus says, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” I believe
“thyself” means our Real Self, the Presence of Love within us, “Thyself” with a
capital “T”. So a wonderful teaching is the following:
As above, I AM that Presence
of Love; so below, I AM that Love everywhere I go. This is an affirmation
that we can repeat and strive to practice everywhere we go. And the compliment
to it is: And, as I AM that Love everywhere I go, I will reap that love that
I sow.
The Words of Jesus
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To
preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
(Luke 4:18,19)
“The works that I do shall ye do
also, and greater works than these shall ye do; because I go unto my Father,” (John 14:12) (Note by
William Star: The preceding verse is a
timeless truth of great spiritual import.)
A Story of Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller
"If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the name of Helen
Keller would have remained unknown." But if it had not been for a kind and
dedicated nurse, the name of Anne Sullivan would have remained unknown. And so
it goes. Just how far back does the chain of redemption extend? And how far
forward will it lead?"
The Gift of God's Incredible Love
"How do you account for
your remarkable accomplishment in life?" Queen Victoria of England asked
Helen Keller. "How do you explain the fact that even though you were both
blind and deaf, you were able to accomplish so much?"
Ms. Keller's answer is a
tribute to her dedicated teacher. "If it had not been for Anne Sullivan,
the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown."
According to speaker Zig
Ziglar, "Little Annie" Sullivan, as she was called when she was
young, was no stranger to hardship. She was almost sightless herself (due to a
childhood fever) and was, at one time, diagnosed as hopelessly
"insane" by her by caregivers. She was locked in the basement of a
mental institution outside of Boston. On occasion, Little Annie would violently
attack anyone who came near. Most of the time she generally ignored everyone in
her presence.
An elderly nurse believed
there was hope, however, and she made it her mission to show love to the child.
Every day she visited Little Annie. For the most part, the child did not
acknowledge the nurse's presence, but she still continued to visit. The kindly
woman left cookies for her and spoke words of love and encouragement. She
believed Little Annie could recover, if only she were shown love.
Eventually, doctors noticed a change in the girl.
Where they once witnessed anger and hostility, they now noted an emerging
gentleness and love. They moved her upstairs where she continued to improve.
Then the day finally came when this seemingly "hopeless" child was
released.
Anne Sullivan grew into a young woman with a
desire to help others as she, herself, was helped by the kindly nurse. It was
she who saw the great potential in Helen Keller. She loved her, disciplined
her, played with her, pushed her and worked with her until the flickering
candle that was her life became a beacon of light to the world. Anne Sullivan
worked wonders in Helen's life; but it was a loving nurse who first believed in
Little Annie and lovingly transformed an uncommunicative child into a
compassionate teacher.
"If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the
name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown." But if it had not been
for a kind and dedicated nurse, the name of Anne Sullivan would have remained
unknown. And so it goes. Just how far back does the chain of redemption extend?
And how far forward will it lead?
Those you have sought to reach, whether they be
in your family or elsewhere, are part of a chain of love that can extend
through the generations. Your influence on their lives, whether or not you see
results, is immeasurable. Your legacy of dedicated kindness and caring can
transform lost and hopeless lives for years to come. You can never overestimate
the power of your love. It is a fire that, once lit, may burn forever.
May you now understand my great
debt to Zig. For everything he has taught me, to my growing faith. His life and
dedication to teaching every Sunday has helped me to reach out and touch
countless thousands all over the world, everyday. I am humbled at how God has
used me. I know in my heart, God put me in Zig's class. I know in my heart that
God uses Zig in so many ways. I feel so blessed to be a part of your life.
In God's Incredible Love,
Tim
“Now, at
last, to make complete this descent to all life, there must be the loving of
thy neighbor as thou lovest thy God Self.
Love thy
neighbor as thy Self.
Love thy neighbor as God in manifestation.
Love thy neighbor as Christ in manifestation.” (through
Elizabeth Clare Prophet)
“Love one another and you shall know the secret
of light. Pray for one another and you shall return to the simple grace of the
child of God's heart, beloved.” (through David Lewis)
And in God’s Incredible Love, and in the love of my neighbor, I AM,
William Star