The Last Seven Commandments: Love of Neighbor

I give you a new commandment:
that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you,
you should also love one another."

John 13:34

A story is told of a surburban man driving to work in the city. Each day he had to pass by a shelter for hungry and homeless people. On a particularly cold day he noticed a long line of needy people lined up around the block waiting for the center to open and dispense its morning fare of coffee and doughnuts.

The scene depressed the man. So he cried out to the lord, "Why don't you do something about this miserable scene? Why do you allow this suffering to go on?"

As the man drove into the parking lot at his place of employment, he distinctly heard an iner voice speak to him. It was the Lord. And the Lord said, "I did do something about it. I made you!"

This story reminds us that the Lord has chosen each of us to be his caring hands, his voice of truth, his compassionate eyes. He uses us to accomplish his work, to bring his love into the world. The last seven commandments focus on love of neighbor and self and teach us virtues like fidelity, honesty, integrity, and self control.

John 13:34 is the proverbial "Catch 22". Other scriptures abound concerning your Neighbor:

Mt 5:43-45 "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.But I tell you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

Mt 19:19: honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Mt 22:39: The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Mr 12:31: "The second is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."

Lu 10:27: He answered: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.

Luke 10:25-37: (PARABLE of the GOOD SAMARITAN)

Ro 13:9: The commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment--all are summed up by this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Ro 13:10: Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

Ro 15:2: Each one of us must please his neighbor for his good, in order to build him up

Eph 4:25: Since you put away lying, Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, because we are members of one another.

Jas 2:8: If you really carry out the royal law prescribed in Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.

Are you doing well?