“Love Thy Neighbor as Thy Self.”

Matthew 22:36-40 (KJV) 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 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. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Foundational to the law of God is these two commandments. The same is true for the Law of Christ (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14; Jas. 2:8-10; 1 John 5:1-3). We cannot obey one commandment without obeying the other and be right with God.

1 John 4:20-21 (NASB) 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Do we truly understand what it means to “love thy neighbor as thyself”?

“Love Thy Neighbor…” “Who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10:25-27 (NASB) 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" 27 And he answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

Luke 10:28-29 (NASB) 28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

“Neighbor (PLEESION): “a neighbor a. friend: Matt 5:43 b. any other person, and where two are concerned the other (thy fellow-man, thy neighbor) Acts 7:27” - Thayer's Greek Lexicon

A “neighbor” in this context (Mat A “neighbor” in this context (Mat. 22:39) is your fellow-man, any person that you have an opportunity to love. A neighbor is not just a friend or a person you like, but would also include your enemies!

Matthew 5:43-44 (NKJV) 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…

Matthew 5:45-46 (NKJV) 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Matthew 5:47-48 (NKJV) 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

The commandment does not require that you like your neighbor, but you do, however, owe it to your neighbor to love him.

Romans 13:8 (NASB) Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

“Love Thy Neighbor…” “Who is my neighbor?” The kind of love we owe our neighbor.

Not the love that the world speaks of! LOVE – “1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. 2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. 3. sexual passion or desire.” – Random House Dictionary

Love that seeks the highest good for another. BIBLICAL LOVE (AGAPE) Love that seeks the highest good for another.

Romans 13:9-10 (NASB) 9 For this, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

Galatians 5:13-15 (NASB) 13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, " You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.

“… As Thyself” Love your neighbor as yourself – Equivalent to the “Golden Rule.” Matthew 7:12 (NASB) "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NASB) 4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

“… As Thyself” Love your neighbor as yourself – Equivalent to the “Golden Rule.” Love thy neighbor as thyself means to value their needs as much as your own.

To love thy neighbor as thyself, we constantly have to “put ourselves in their shoes” and consider their interests as important.

Philippians 2:3-4 (NASB) 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

“… As Thyself” Love your neighbor as yourself – Equivalent to the “Golden Rule.” Love thy neighbor as thyself means to value their needs as much as your own. Love thy neighbor with genuine, not hypocritical, love.

Romans 12:9 (NASB) Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Genuine love for your “neighbor” does not say one thing and do another (“lip service”) (cf. Mat. 15:8).

The measure of love you give your neighbor is not to be second best to how much you love yourself.

1 John 3:17-18 (NASB) 17 But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

How is it Possible to Have Such Love for Thy Neighbor? Love God with all your heart. It is not incidental that “the first and great commandment” is followed by the commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself (Mat. 22:37-40).

If you love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, you will, as a result, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Having troubling loving your “neighbor?” How is your relationship with God? Are you walking in the light as He is in the light?

1 John 2:9-11 (NASB) 9 The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Make God your first love and you will love your neighbor!

How is it Possible to Have Such Love for Thy Neighbor? Love God with all your heart. As much as possible, view your neighbor as God does. Understanding that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” will change the perspective you have of your neighbor (John 3:16; cf. 1 John 2:2).

The more we come to know God’s love for mankind, the more we will be able to love our neighbors as ourselves.

1 John 4:9-11 (NASB) 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

How is it Possible to Have Such Love for Thy Neighbor? Love God with all your heart. As much as possible, view your neighbor as God does. Imitate Jesus Christ who selflessly loved by dying for us all.

By putting on the mind of Christ, you will develop the attitude of love toward your neighbor (Phil. 2:5ff.).

Philippians 2:5 (NASB) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 5:2 (NASB) and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Preparing Your Heart for Judgment Day Requires Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself!

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (NKJV) 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.