When Jesus said that we were to “Love our neighbors”, it turns out he wasn’t just talking about being “nice” to the folks we happen to like. Indeed, as I have radically put this admonition to the test in thousands of encounters over the past decade of my life, I have come to understand that the ramifications of this particular encouragement go FAR deeper than we have been taught, and run FAR deeper than we might first think …

Firstly, when Jesus said LOVE, he didn’t mean for us to hold a :”warm & fuzzy” feeling in our hearts for others, or even to extend them soft thoughts or friendly words. No, for Jesus at least, LOVE meant sacrificing your peace of mind; it meant doing the uncomfortable deed; it meant opening up when you wish to remain protected; it meant being Kind to the folks who least deserve your Kindness; it meant giving your last morsel of food when you are hungry and your last two pennies when you are broke … Most importantly of all, it meant to Give of yourSELF more than your things — to give of your full attention when you’d rather “think happy thoughts” or “have fun”; to give of your time when you have “more important things to do”; to give of your most engaged emotion when you would just as soon set up “healthy boundaries” or engage in some superficial back-patting.

LOVE for Jesus was treating the other — EVERY other — as though they were your dearest Friend; embracing them with open arms at every chance meeting, continually looking to ease their pain or raise their Joy, considering it a privilege & an honor to help them in any way you can.

For Jesus, LOVE was, is & ever will remain — a verb, and a most courageous verb at that.

And just as importantly, when Jesus said NEIGHBOR, he wasn’t talking about the folks in our lives who are easy to Love. He wasn’t talking about the ones giving us compliments or supporting our beliefs; he wasn’t talking about the ones who bring us birthday presents or play happily with our children or hang out with us on the weekends.

No, for Jesus — as he most astutely pointed out in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37, the only place in the entire Bible where he defines this particular term) — our NEIGHBOR is our enemy; the one who is cutting us down, the one who us gossiping behind our backs, the one who is attacking our friends, the one who is driving us crazy, the one who is threatening our safety, the one whose beliefs contradict our own.

THESE are the folks Jesus would have us LOVE — and LOVE completely; actively with courage and sincerely with humility.

For Jesus, nothing else was more important than for us to reawaken to this Way of Being, for us to reawaken to our innate solidarity with ALL our human brothers & sisters and ALL our sentient cousins by radically championing & purely living that Oneness.

For Jesus, THIS was the portal to HIS brand of “salvation” …
For Jesus, THIS was The Way to HIS version of paradise.
For Jesus, it is humility that is the doorknob, kindness that is the key and radical LOVE that gets us through the door …

We all have folks in our lives whose beliefs contradict our own, whose personalities grate like fingernails on a chalkboard, and whose demeanor can be downright “mean” … and THESE people are our gateways to Bliss; these people are our most potent opportunities to transcend the selfish beings we are told to be, and become instead the truly caring Human Beings we truly Are.

They are all around us every day, these “enemies” … waiting patiently to let us into those Hallowed Halls where the angels sing — waiting patiently for us to realize that it is they who are our personal angels — waiting patiently for us to show them LOVE.

They are waiting for us all right now …

So, my Friends … got Heaven?

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic as well. Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back … Then your reward will be great, and you will be considered children of the Most High, for He is kind as well to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, therefore, just as your heavenly Father is merciful. ” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 6:27-36)

Filed under: My Favorite Verses by Scaughdt