Love Thy Neighbor

As You Love Yourself.

Jesus commanded us to do this.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these." Mark 12:31

I don't know why it's so hard for us to do this. This is literally the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. We are equals in this life. Every person: man, woman, child. We are equals.

And yet, we have governments around the world (including our own) putting children in cages for trying to have a better life, better healthcare, better schools, better jobs. We have families traveling hundreds of miles to escape environmental catastrophes, civil wars, and famine. And yet, we turn them away.

Jesus told us in Matthew 25:

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

We have our own leaders who proclaim to be Christians, the "Christian Right" turning the least of Jesus' brothers away at the door. Turning a blind eye on their needs, their hunger, their thirst, their homelessness.

Verse after verse in the Bible states that we should take care of the lesser and the needy. How can anyone claim to be a Christian if they aren't following Christ's teachings?