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Love and Compassion is the Change that we Need
By Byron A. Ellis-August 07, 2008
In Matthew 22: 36-40, Jesus was asked, which is the greatest commandment in the law? He replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
His reply is interesting in that He affirms that “love” is a critical component of the first and second greatest command. It is also interesting because these commandments stand in contrast to contemporary behavior.
Many will unequivocally assert that they love God, but not many can unequivocally assert that they love their neighbor as themselves. But, is it not possible to love God and hate your neighbor.
The second greatest commandment forces us to define who is our neighbor. And, the tendency is to define our neighbor as people that we are familiar with, or that we have commonality with.
So, when leaders tell us that certain nations or groups are bad, in our mind the second greatest commandment does not apply to them. We are now “righteously” free to enslave them, segregate them, and annihilate them. A typical example was the demonizing of Saddam Hussein and Iraq prior to the invasion.
However, the testament of leadership is awesome power of love. So, why do leaders claim that peace can be achieved through hate, force, and war?
These leaders are contradicting Christ with a false doctrine. Thus, they are doing the work of the deceiver. However, they are not alone, even religious establishment exclude the invaded nations from their prayers.
Therefore, it is important for us to understand Christ’s teachings, particularly His emphasis on the weakest among us, and try our best not to fall short.
These commandments are also applicable to international relationships. However, too often lack of love for other countries leads to unreasonable demands and unfair and dishonest negotiations.
When we talk about change, we should be emphasizing a change towards loving our neighbors, reducing arm conflicts, world hunger, and diseases.
Our change thought process should hang on the first and second greatest commandment.
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