How do I love my neighbor?

“you shall love your neighbor as yourself” Leviticus 19:18

Neighbor – When Jesus spoke these words to the lawyer, he did not make them up.  He simply quoted Scripture (a rather good decision when confronted with an opponent).  What you wouldn’t know (but what the lawyer should have known) is that this word translated “neighbor” actually tells us how we are to act toward others.  It’s all in the consonants.

Hebrew is a language written without vowels.  That means that many words come from the same consonant structure (primary roots) but have small alterations or changes in the associated vowels.  Today’s word is connected to yesterday’s word for “neighbor”.  It is from the same root ra’ a.  When I read the law in Leviticus, I am aware that there is a deep connection between the word “neighbor” and the word “to pasture”.  Does that tell you anything about how to love your neighbor?  My “neighbor” is the one God gives me to “shepherd”.   When I am called to shepherd (the role of the leader), I am expected to nourish my neighbor.  It is the flock at hand that is my first assignment as a representative of the King.  That, by the way, does not mean that I choose the ones at hand.  God puts me in the place of His choosing in order that my neighbors will arrive in my life.  It’s a variation on the Zen saying, “When the leader is ready, the neighbors will appear”.

What about your leadership?  Is it focused on the nourishment of your neighbor?  Are you concerned with the flock at hand or are you looking beyond your borders for some “higher” calling?  God is a neighborhood God.  He has great plans but they are accomplished in small circles.  One person’s obedience can change the whole world – one neighbor at a time.