Loving our Neighbour Leviticus 19:9-18

Matthew 22: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

“All you need is love…”

Love is in the air, everywhere I look around Love is in the air, every sight and every sound

Love is all around I feel it in my fingers I feel it in my toes Love is all around me And so the feeling grows It's written on the wind It's everywhere I go So if you really love me Come on and let it show You know I love you, I always will My mind's made up by the way that I feel There's no beginning, there'll be no end 'Cause on my love you can depend

“My mind’s made up by the way that I feel”

1 John 4:7-8 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity “Love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feeling but of the will; that state of the will which we naturally have about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.” “Our love for ourselves does not mean that we like ourselves. It means that we wish our own good.”

C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity “The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour; act as if you did.” “As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”

Luke 6: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Plant gardens…Seek the peace and prosperity of the city of exile

C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity “Whenever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more or, at least, to dislike it less.”

Leviticus 19: “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the L ORD your God. Loving our neighbours with our possessions

Leviticus 19: “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another. 12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the L ORD. Loving our neighbours with our honesty

Leviticus 19: “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbour. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. 14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the L ORD. Loving our neighbours by our actions

Leviticus 19: “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbour fairly. 16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbour’s life. I am the L ORD. Loving our neighbours in our judgements

Leviticus 19: “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in their guilt. 18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the L ORD. Loving our neighbours in our attitude

C.S. Lewis – Mere Christianity “The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on – including people he could not even have imagined himself liking in the beginning. “This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction. The more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become – and so on in a vicious circle for ever. “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.”

1 John 4: Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.