The Second

“And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  Matthew 22:39
"To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper." Proverbs 19:8

There are times when I'm looking at my wife or my children listening intently to every word they're saying. I understand the meaning of the words, but I have no idea what they're trying to communicate. I'll give them my all too familiar blank look and say, "I have no idea what you just said or what it is you're asking me." After another pass or two, we normally break through to clarity and move on from there. I've noticed there are times when I'm reading the Bible where I have that similar experience of lack of understanding.

The second greatest command of Jesus is one of those examples. It's not so much the "love your neighbor" part. It's the "as yourself" part. What does that mean? One of the great truths about the Bible is that God's Spirit inspired every author of every book in it. This reality leads to unity and complementary messages. In Proverbs, we find one explanation as to what it means to love ourselves: acquire wisdom. God's wisdom protects. God's wisdom guides. God's wisdom keeps us on the narrow path that leads to life.

So then, if we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we will help them acquire God's wisdom too. We will model it. We will speak it. We will show them where to seek it. To do any less would be to fail to love them as ourselves. We will also point them towards Jesus because we are told, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

Grace and Peace,

Tom Wiles
tom@fallcreekchristian.org

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