“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12: 30-31)
One day, someone asked our Lord Jesus Christ what the greatest commandment is. His answer was:
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12: 30-31)
According to the above scripture, the greatest commandment is that each human being should love the Lord God with all his heart, his soul, his mind, and all his strength. Man is also love his fellow man as he loves himself. Love for one’s neighbour is the greatest commandment.
In this article, I would like us to consider the second commandment and what it really means. When our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Love your neighbour as yourself,” he commanded us to love everyone; people of all race and faith. He did not ask us to love only those who love us, our family and friends, fellow Christians and hate and hate non-Christians.
As Christians, our neighbour could be a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Traditionalist, and so forth. Our neighbour could be someone who hates us. Notwithstanding, the Lord commands us to love that person.
That someone does not share our faith does not give us the right to despise or hate that person. It is important to note that God loves all his creation. Out of ignorance or disobedience, someone may have chosen not to recognize our Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and the Holy Son of God. However, that does not give us the permission to hate the person. We cannot win someone for Christ through hatred. Love alone can change a sinner and bring the person to the path of righteousness. Love conquers all.
Truth be told, before we became believers in Christ, we were also like those who don’t believe in Him. It took someone to bring us to Christ. That person did not tell us about Christ because he or she hated us, it was an act of love. Also, before we became believers in Christ, we were, first off, humans like those who are not Christians. Race, faith or anything else must never be a reason to hate our neighbour.
People’s refusal to share our belief must not be a reason to hate them. If we are true believers in whatever God we claim to worship, we will peacefully among ourselves in love, because God is love.
I am hitting on religion because many evil-minded people are hiding behind it to cause pain to so many people. The world is full of religious people without love. Evil-minded people are hiding under their faith to do evil to people, including fellow believers.
Muslim extremists kill people, including fellow Muslims in the name of Allah.
Many Pastors are using God’s name to extort money from Christians and non-Christians who seek God’s help through them. So much evil is going on in the name of God and religion. People are destroying others every day. All this happens because we do not have love for one another.
In many parts of the world, people are causing untold havoc to others in the name of religion. We kill and maim, steal and cheat our fellow brothers and sisters in the name of God. Meanwhile, the God we claim to worship commanded us to love our neighbours as ourselves.
As a believer in Christ, I feel sad when I see some fellow believers in Christ hate non-Christians. Such practice is not the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you hate your neighbour because he is not a Christian, it means that you are a religious bigot and not a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus commanded us to love our neighbours as ourselves and not to hate them. He asked us to love those who hate us.
Christians should understand that we were not called to hate people. Our duty is to love others as Christ loved us and gave His life for us.
As believers in Christ, our duty is to tell the world that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and saviour of the world. Unless we have love love in our hearts for others, we cannot achieve this.
Perhaps, the god of some people tells them to hate their neighbour. I cannot speak for such people. However, I know for sure that our Lord Jesus Christ did not teach us to hate, kill and destroy those who don’t believe in Him. He asked us to love them. So, why hate people, including fellow Christians?
If we are indeed believers in Christ, we must follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. He commanded us to love God and also love our neighbours as ourselves, and not hate anyone. Let us abide by His word and make the world a better peaceful place for all. God bless you.
Source: “Truth be told (TBT) series”
Author: Apostle Frank B. Ogbu
Head Pastor/Overseer
Champion Grace Eternal Ministries
Ayikai Doblo, Amasaman
Accra, Ghana
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