Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Month 8: Right & Wrong · Loving Others
Today's Scripture
Read together: Luke 10:25-37
25 One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’ 36 Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 “The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Memory Verse
“Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”— Matthew 22:37-39 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Psalms 45-48
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 237 of 365 — "God is our refuge and strength," Psalm 46.)The Heart of It
A man once tried to wiggle out of the second commandment by asking Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" He was hoping for a short list. Maybe just people like him, people who were easy to love. Instead, Jesus told a story that flipped the whole question around. A traveler was robbed, beaten, and left to die. Two religious men walked right past him. They were the kind everyone expected to be "good." Then a Samaritan came by. Now, Jews and Samaritans in that day couldn't stand each other. They were enemies across a deep cultural and religious divide. Yet it was the Samaritan who stopped. He bandaged the man's wounds, carried him to safety, and paid for his care out of his own pocket.
Jesus' point is sharp and beautiful. Your neighbor isn't just the person who looks like you, talks like you, or believes like you. Your neighbor is anyone who needs your love. That includes people who are different from you, and even people you'd naturally consider on the "other side." This is the heart of living on mission. The world is full of voices telling us to only care about "our group" and treat outsiders as enemies. Jesus calls His followers to something braver and kinder. He calls us to cross the lines other people won't cross, and to show real, costly love to the person in front of us. When Jesus finished the story, He didn't say "agree with Me." He said, "Go and do likewise."
Around the Table
A hurt man was helped by someone everyone thought was an "enemy"! Jesus says our neighbor is ANYONE who needs our help.
Let's do it: Name one person who might need kindness this week. Make a plan to help them!
The "good guys" walked past, but the "enemy" stopped to help. Why do you think Jesus made the Samaritan the hero?
Let's talk: Who is someone different from you that you could show kindness to this week?
Jesus chose a despised Samaritan as the hero on purpose. He blew up the idea that we only owe love to "our own kind."
Let's go deeper: In a world that pushes us to see other groups as enemies, how does this parable challenge the way you treat people who are different from you?
💬 Conversation Starter
Has someone you didn't expect ever been really kind to you? Maybe even someone you'd argued with? How did it feel?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Some say Christians only care about their own group. But Jesus made the hero of His most famous story a cultural outsider. And He commanded His followers to love their enemies (). True Christianity crosses lines to love people who are different. And we show that love with gentleness and respect, just as teaches.
For Dad · Go Deeper
This parable is one of the most missionally explosive things Jesus ever said, and it's tailor-made for forming kids who can live on mission in a divided culture. Notice how Jesus answers "Who is my neighbor?" He changes the question to "Who acted like a neighbor?" He turns a question about limits into a question about love. In an age that trains young people to sort everyone into allies and enemies, your kids will be counter-cultural simply by treating outsiders with dignity. But this is caught more than taught. How do you speak about the neighbor with the different politics, the family from another country, the person whose beliefs you find wrong? Your kids are watching to see whether "love your neighbor" survives contact with people you disagree with. Living on mission begins at your own dinner table, in the tone you use about people who aren't in the room.
Draws on: Sean McDowell, So the Next Generation Will Know.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You for loving us when we were far from You. Give us eyes to see whoever needs our love, even people who are different from us. Give us the courage to cross the line and help. Make us good neighbors. In Jesus' name, amen."
My neighbor is anyone who needs my love. So I'll cross the lines others won't cross.