Yes, you are worthy of love and respect

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself” — Matthew 22:37-39

This was Jesus’ reply when asked by one of the Pharisees, a legal authority who asked a question to test Jesus.

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” — Matthew 22:36

I have twin daughters who will turn 2 years old in November. Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind adventure, where I have learned a lot about myself and a lot about raising kids.

One of their favorite words is “No.”

Do you want some cereal? Let’s put your shoes on! No and No. At the end of the day rules and boundaries are a necessary part of raising kids. I want my daughters to understand that you don’t always get what you want when you want it. I also want them to understand that the God of the universe made Himself known in Jesus Christ. God desires for us to care for our neighbors as God loves us.

So, who are your neighbors? Who are the people in your neighborhood, as one wise Sesame Street character used to sing. They are people who live right next door to you, people that live in the same apartment complex, neighbors are people that live down the road or across town. In God’s perspective, neighbors even live 30, 40 or 300 miles away.

Even on the other side of the world. For me, the most challenging neighbors aren’t the ones that I get along with very well, but people that annoy me or get under my skin or push my buttons. Yet, Jesus still invites us to love our neighbor as ourselves. My daughters teach me many lessons each day, one of the best is that our human nature is to say, “Me, me, me!” I want what I want because I earned it and deserve it. We can easily become judgmental and selfish.

Jesus reveals that the world does not revolve around me, but that God desires to be in relationship with me and that our lives are a response to the gift of love and care that God continues to give to me each day. As one of my favorite 1990’s bands declared, “Love is a verb.”

I can pay lip service that I love God with all my heart, soul and mind, but what do my actions reveal? How am I doing at loving my neighbor as myself? Some days okay, other days, not so well. Yet, even with all the “No, No, No,” God in Christ continues to answer, “Yes, you are my child! Yes, you are worthy of love and respect.

Yes, by God’s grace, you can change and grow! Loving our neighbor takes forgiveness, perseverance, and courage to approach someone different from you and open ourselves up to the hope and promise that God meets us in those encounters. God bless us as we work to share the love and care of Christ to ourselves and our neighbors.

Blessings.

(Pastor Joel Skindlov is with Messiah Lutheran Church in Havre.)