LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR

“Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.” – 1 John 2:10

In his book “The Jesus Creed,” Scot McKnight writes: “Let me tell you the story of a great missionary named Frank C. Laubach (1884–1970). He grew up in the farming community of Benton, PA, and served as a Congregationalist missionary in the Philippines.

Where he was a total failure. He tried to bring the gospel to the Moros people, and they were completely uninterested. So one day, he’s praying, and he yells at God, “What can I do for hateful people like these: murderers, thieves, dirty filthy betel nut chewers – our enemies?”

Laubach said his lips began to move, and it seemed to him that God was speaking. These words came out: “My child, you have failed because you do not really love these Moros. You feel superior to them because you are white. If you can forget you are an American and think only how I love them, they will respond.” 

Laubach’s life was gradually but dramatically transformed in his understanding of the “others” he was called to love, and his work grew from a private to a public mission. Here’s what he said he learned he had to do: “I choose to look at people through God, using God as my glasses, colored with His love for them.”

When we see others as God as God sees them, then we can love them. Today, in prayer, praise the Lord for His love towards you and love others.

“To love another person is to help them love God.” – Soren Kierkegaard

God’s Word: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” – John 13:34