Devotion: Who is My Neighbor?

The world is shrinking. Have you noticed?

I’m not saying the world is getting physically smaller, but think about it: in an instant, thanks to technological advances, you can Skype with a friend on the other side of the planet. We carry phones that allow people to reach us virtually anytime, anywhere. With a few clicks on a keyboard, we have immediate access to all sorts of information. With email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, MySpace, Blogger, and…well…any number of other social media platforms, we are able to keep up-to-date with all the latest happenings in the lives of our family and friends.

Here’s why it matters…

With all of these connections, you have more potential to share Jesus with the world than any generation in history. But in order to share Jesus, we must be willing to be present in the lives of people who aren’t like us.

It’s easy to spend time with people who are like you–people who have the same interests, backgrounds, beliefs, etc. But if we are going to take the love of Christ to people who don’t know Him, we will have to invest in people who don’t share our beliefs about God. It will require loving someone who is not like you.

After all, Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:37-39 (NLT), “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.” Notice: there is no qualification to only love people who believe like you, live like you, attend the same school as you, work in the same field as you, etc. Jesus simply tells us to ‘love God, and love our neighbors.’

Maybe the best way to love God is to simply love who God loves…

And who does God love? “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NLT).

So, how will you love your neighbors this week?

Put it into Practice:

1. Pick one person–a family member, classmate or someone else in your life. Pray for that person each day for the next week. Write their name on a notecard or post-it note, and put it where you will see it each day. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal ways you can share Christ’s love with that person.

2. Consider how you can share Christ’s love in each of these ways: spiritually, relationally, physically, intellectually or financially. This week, go out of your way every day to share Christ’s love with someone.

Published May 29, 2013

Devo-Outreach Matthew 22

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