Summary of the Bible in 52 Weeks: 3. Love

 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

Our gut reaction when someone wrongs us is to seek revenge. If someone punches us, we're tempted to punch back, with interest! At the very least, we're likely to want to bear a grudge.

God commands us not to take revenge. We mustn't bear grudges. Vengeance is God's job: he's clinically exact in his retribution.

Rather than to hate people, we're to love them. We may well ask who our neighbour is. Jesus clearly says it's whoever we come across in our lives.

We hear a lot in the world today about self love. Even the Bible acknowledges and assumes that we should love ourselves. Its emphasis though is love of God and of other people especially.

'Loving Lord, may we love you and others as we ought. For the honour of your name, amen'.

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