Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [atoning] for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John 4:10-11
Of course it's fair for Jesus to require this, but we human think of so many reasons to make loving our neighbor sound unfair like: they have different skin, they have different beliefs, they have a different language, they have different customs, how do I know they aren't going to threaten my life in some way? Boy, aren't we full of excuses. Jesus told us many times that we are to love others. Here are a few examples:
*Then one of
them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, 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, Chapter 22, verses 35-40.
*Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for
he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law.
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou
shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and
if there be any other Commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying
namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.
Romans, Chapter 13, verses 8-10.
*Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou
shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself: I am the LORD. Leviticus,
Chapter 19, verses 17-18.
