MAY 8, Mark 12:31

The Lord Jesus says the second great commandment is “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” In today’s context, the word “neighbour” could mean someone who lives in the house next to yours, or someone who lives near you. But the phrase “thy neighbour” mentioned in the Bible means any other person that is not you. It can be the person living next door, your classmate or even that naughty boy or bossy girl in school.

We all love ourselves. We feed ourselves. We clothe ourselves. We wash ourselves. Will you want to hit yourself? Of course not! Do we want to say bad things about ourselves? Of course not! Since we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, we are not to do anything harmful to him or her!

Read the following story and answer the question at the end:
A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. Along the way, he was attacked by thieves. They stole his money and left him half dead by the roadside.

A priest came by, saw the man, and walked by the other side. Then a Levite (holy man of the Jews) came by. He saw the poor man, and passed by the other side, too.

Finally a Samaritan came by. When he saw the man, he had compassion (pity) on him. He bandaged the wounds of the man and took him to the inn (a small hotel). The next day, before the Samaritan continued on his journey, he gave some money to the inn-keeper to take care of the sick man. He promised to repay any extra money spent on the sick man, when he next came to the inn again.

Who showed love to his neighbour? _________________

Thought: Do I love my neighbour as myself?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach me how to obey Your second great commandment – to love my neighbour as myself. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.