Love Thy Neighbor
- by Charles Spurgeon
"You shall love your neighbor." - Matthew 5:43
"Love your neighbor." Perhaps he rolls in riches, and you are poor, and living in
your little cot side-by-side with his lordly mansion; you see every day his estates,
his fine linen, and his lavish banquets; God has given him these gifts, covet not
his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with your own
lot, if you cannot better it, but do not look upon your neighbor, and wish that
you were him. Love him, and then you will not envy him.
Perhaps, on the other hand, you are rich, and near you reside the poor. Do not scorn
to call them neighbor. Understand that you are bound to love them. The world calls
them your inferiors. In what way are they inferior?
They are far more your equals than your inferiors, for "God has made of one blood
all people that dwell upon the face of the earth." It is your coat which is better
than theirs, but you yourself are by no means better than they. They are men, and
what are you more than that? Take heed that you love your neighbor even though he
be in rags, or sunken in the depths of poverty.
But, perhaps, you say, "I cannot love my neighbors, because for all I do they return
ingratitude and contempt." So much the more room for the heroism of love. Would
you rather be a feather-bed warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love?
He who dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be your path of love, tread
it boldly, still loving your neighbors through thick and thin.
Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard to please, seek not to please
them, but to please your Christ Jesus, your Master; and remember if they spurn your
love, your Master has not spurned it, and your deed is as acceptable to Him as if
it had been acceptable to them. Love thy neighbor, for in so doing you are following
the footsteps of Christ.