Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

 

I had an experience a while ago that I have continued to reflect upon.  I believe it was one of those Holy Spirit moments where He showed me something in my interaction with someone else so that I could pay attention to it in my own life.  I have actually been reflecting on it for some time and though it wasn’t a huge deal when it happened it's clear I couldn’t let it go because I kept thinking about.  For me, that is generally a sign that I have not yet learned what God wants me to understand, and probably change? Who it was and what the conversation was about isn’t really important and so I am going to be intentionally vague about the content of the conversation.  But in explaining the emotion I felt and my resultant reflections I want to try and address some challenging issues for all of our consideration. 

 

In short, I was having a conversation with an old friend I don’t see much anymore and we were catching up on each other’s lives.  He asked how it was going and I told him that I was really struggling with a particular life situation that just wasn’t improving.  In spite of many prayers being offered by myself and others, the situation was unchanged and I was feeling tired, overwhelmed and hopeless about it.  In the midst of the conversation, he interjected something like “I guess more prayers are needed there.”  And then promptly ended the conversation and said he needed to go.  Emotionally I was stunned and immediately felt shut down inside.  My immediate thoughts were he just didn’t want to hear about it and offered a spiritual sounding response that let him off the hook from really getting involved. 

 

Again, the point for me was not so much what happened to me but rather I began to wonder how often I do the same thing?  People’s life issues are often very challenging, emotionally draining and not easily or quickly resolved.  Combine that with the fact that most of us feel like we have enough problems of our own and almost always are pressed for time.  We often feel like we do not have the time or energy to listen to, let alone get involved with, the life circumstances of others.  I understand the sentiments and feel like I have lived that way most of my life.  The problem is it comes in direct conflict with the primary teaching of Jesus, to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).  The exhortation to “bear one another’s burdens” is a practical expression of Jesus’ commandment to love each other as He has loved us (John 13:34).  And finally, the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that all of our religious good works are “nothing” if they are not accompanied by love. 

 

So, where to go from here? If this is a practical outworking of the second commandment how do we go about fulfilling it?  The first step is to ask the Holy Spirit how am I doing bearing the burdens of others?  The word “bearing” means to take up and to carry the things in other people’s lives that weigh them down.  There is a heaviness to them which means the one carrying cannot carry alone without being overwhelmed.  Am I directly involved in bearing the burdens of others in a way that goes beyond prayer?  Prayer is essential but people often need others to help in practical ways until God shows up. 

 

Next, am I simply hearing others or am I really listening to them, connecting with the pain and challenge of their situation? People don’t always have an expectation that others are going to fix their problems but there is an encouragement that comes with knowing you have been truly heard. The other side is equally true in that when we don’t feel heard we don’t believe people really care. 

 

Finally, it is to ask the Holy Spirit what He would have you do?  We cannot carry everyone else’s burdens, nor can we fully resolve even one person’s life concerns, but many times we can play a part in helping a brother or sister in Christ by getting personally involved.   And when we do we “fulfill the law of Christ,” which is to love your neighbor as yourself by bearing one another’s burdens.  Something to think about as you go about your daily routine.