The implications of Christ's Command to Love Your Neighbor, in the world today.

[2A_Tom]

Lifting this out of another thread.

I have struggled with these passages over the past few days, but I keep coming back to them.

Love for Enemies27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.


32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.


35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.


Luke 6:27-36

39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile,[a] carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

Teaching about Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![c] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends,[d] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.


Matthew 5:39-44

Both pulled from the New Living Translation Bible.

Great scriptures. If you were harming someone would you want someone to stop you? Would you want someone to tell you? "Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

There are times that call for tough love.

I'm not trying to be smart a$$ but read the chapters around that verse to get the flavor of what is going on.. something ive learned and I will see this alot from liberals ( and I used to do it) but verses by themselves don't hold much meaning, you have to dig for the context of that verse..dont get me wrong, there are verses that are cut and dry but maybe if look at context, It will help.. example is turn the other cheek, that doesn't apply to some trying to kill you or your family, its intended for when people are slandering you or even throwing rotten eggs etc. Another BIG misconception is DONT BEAR FALSE WITNESS.. well it doesn't mean dont lie although other places it is let known to us that got does not like lying lips but what it really refers to is to witness or testifie against someone falsely.. especially when that person is in a position of being judged by false witness..

But in short, context is everything, the Bible is used to interpret the Bible, not man's flawed heart. Our writers of the constitution modeled it much in the same way, if your looking for a meaning of something not obvious, you look at the constitution to interpret its meaning.

Well said, sir.
One should not bend scripture to further political agendas.

I'm not sure that is not ok. CHRIST was executed for political reasons.
If those lessons are not taught, that leaves a opening for the ones that wickedness to creep in and write history the way they want(which they are already doing) jmo

I believe I got all of the pertinent posts if I missed yours I apologize.

 

[2A_Tom]

I'll add this.

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

You will note that G-d is a 2A - 8A supporter.

 

[NKBJ]

Where's this going, whether or not you should allow someone to commit your murder?
Taking that to the extreme because backing up from there is where we have to be.

 

[2A_Tom]

Getting it out of the other thread so people don't make the mighty hammer swing.

 

[HoughMade]

Step 1- don't try to apply any of those passages to what governments should do. Governments have different responsibilities than individuals. These are aimed at individuals only.

 

[erasure]

This also feels appropriate. Luke 10, NIV.

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27 He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

 

[2A_Tom]

Kyle Rittenhouse was separated from his group when he rendered assistance to an injured ANTIFA protester. He was then not allowed to return to his group by the police, and left to the will of the mob.

 

[Hookeye]

Love...........means you send the very best

 

[CampingJosh]

Leo Tolstoy, in addition to being one of the great novelists of all time, struggled with these passages of Scripture. He came out the other side as a Christian anarchist.

I don't agree with him on everything, for sure, but I found his book What I Believe to be quite helpful as have I thought through this.

 

[Trigger Time]

Blessed be the Lord,
My rock who trains my hands for war,
My fingers for battle.
- Psalm 144:1


The love I'll show to my enemies who would force me to defend myself, is proper shot placement.
I'd provide references but they didn't make it.

 

[JCSR]

‘Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’
James Mattis

 

[Hoosierkav]

When you start loving your enemies, you stop seeing them as enemies (deserving of contempt) and start to love them.

Stop doing what is required (including the Roman's requirement to carry a soldier's pack up to a mile) and start doing the loving thing.

Yes, you can "what if" this to death, but then you're missing the point. If you're counting how many times your forgiving someone, you're not really forgiving them, are you?

 

[Hoosierdood]

I don’t understand the point of this thread

 

[Hoosierdood]

Also, if it’s in the other thread, why not just keep it there? Why create a new thread with nothing but quotes from the other thread?

I don’t get it.

 

[CampingJosh]

Also, if it’s in the other thread, why not just keep it there? Why create a new thread with nothing but quotes from the other thread?

I don’t get it.

Because it was thread drift for that thread, but it was a topic the OP here wanted to discuss. He used the quotes from the other thread to lay the foundation for the discussion here.

 

[JettaKnight]

When you start loving your enemies, you stop seeing them as enemies (deserving of contempt) and start to love them.

Stop doing what is required (including the Roman's requirement to carry a soldier's pack up to a mile) and start doing the loving thing.

Yes, you can "what if" this to death, but then you're missing the point. If you're counting how many times your forgiving someone, you're not really forgiving them, are you?

There seems to be a lot of excuse making - "well, if they do..." or "yeah, but in this situation..." and "these are different times...", all trying to rationalize a way to ignore His commandment.


I don't expect any non-Christians to play by the rules, but I do expect Christians to at least admit to what Christ demands (even if we can't live up to it).


It suddenly occurred to me that we (my self included) have a mindset: "here's how I'll beat them!", when our first thought really should be, "here's how I"ll love them."
That's an incredibly hard shift in thinking, but it's what Christ demands.



I gotta tread lightly - bad things happened the last time this topic was discussed.

 

[Doug]

It seems to me, the most important thing is YOUR relationship with Jesus Christ, YOUR understanding of what He requires of you, and YOUR obedience to Him.
You've got yours and I've got mine. We can discuss it, but I'm not going to judge you and your obedience and I won't listen it you judge mine.
"Judge" in this instance means "to condemn as unrighteous if you don't agree with me."

Discuss, just don't condemn.

 

[CampingJosh]

It seems to me, the most important thing is YOUR relationship with Jesus Christ, YOUR understanding of what He requires of you, and YOUR obedience to Him.
You've got yours and I've got mine. We can discuss it, but I'm not going to judge you and your obedience and I won't listen it you judge mine.
"Judge" in this instance means "to condemn as unrighteous if you don't agree with me."

Discuss, just don't condemn.

1 Corinthians 5 seems to say that there is, at least at some points, a need to condemn others who claim to be in Christ but who are not living it out.

 

[JettaKnight]

It seems to me, the most important thing is YOUR relationship with Jesus Christ, YOUR understanding of what He requires of you, and YOUR obedience to Him.
You've got yours and I've got mine. We can discuss it, but I'm not going to judge you and your obedience and I won't listen it you judge mine.
"Judge" in this instance means "to condemn as unrighteous if you don't agree with me."

Discuss, just don't condemn.

Forgive me, but I don't see anyone particularly judging anyone. do you? Or is this just trying to nip it in the bud because it begins?




Honestly, I'm casting no aspersions, but I'm always a bit leery when someone quickly pulls out, "thou shall not judge"; there's usually some sin or serious doctrinal issue they want to hold on to.


Iron sharpens iron. If there's sin in my life, I'd rather have it pointed out (in love, of course), than have it eat at my soul.

 

[Doug]

I don't mean to claim that anyone is "judging" me or anyone else.
Judging often has two connotations; pointing out an error or condemning as beyond redemption. I believe the latter is what is used when Jesus says, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
If you "judge" a fellow Christian to be doing wrong and harming himself, others, or the faith, if is (in my opinion) appropriate to gently pull him aside and state your opinion. It is not (again, in my opinion) appropriate to "judge" him as beyond the saving grace of Jesus Christ and worthy only of "the fires of hell."
I may rightly point out what I believe is right or wrong, but God, alone, has authority to "judge" another person as redeemed or not.

Yes, just trying to say we all have beliefs, but God knows the truth.