“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18 NKJV
In the Old Testament, God gave Moses the 10 Commandments. These Commandments actually comprises of two parts:
“Our duties to God and are duties to our fellow human beings.”
In the New Testament, Jesus Christ explained very clearly, the importance and significance of these duties. In Matthew 22:34-40:
“But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” NKJV
The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the popular stories in the Bible. A lawyer had come to Jesus to test him, but he ended up being the one tested by Jesus. He wanted to know how he could inherit eternal life but ended up with a lesson on Good Neighborliness. In Luke 10:25-37:
“And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading” So he answered and said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded and departed, leaving half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So, he went to and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ So, which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” NKJV
In the Greek language, the word “neighbor” means “someone who is near”. So, you can call that the “Proximity test”. However, in the Hebrew language, the same word means “someone you have an association with”. So, the Hebrew meaning is broader than the Greek meaning.
We are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. The world has become a global village, so neighborhoods have become very diversified. Thus, we have people from different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicity living in the same neighborhood.
As Christians, and most significantly as human beings, how do we love our neighbors? How do we relate to them?
We just read about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. We saw how the Priest who is supposed to be full of compassion for a fellow human being did not lift a finger to help a person in need. We also saw a Levite, an expert in law, turn his face away and refused to lend a helping hand. We now saw how a Samaritan, one who was despised by the Jews, not only help him, but paid for his comfort and promised to return to take care of any outstanding bills that the wounded man might incur.
The commandment to “love your neighbor” does not mean that you have to agree with them. You can help them when the opportunity arises. However, most importantly, do not hurt, harm or injure your neighbor.
Let’s look at what the Bible says about our neighbors.
In Proverbs 27:10:
Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.” NKJV
In Exodus 20:16-17:
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” NKJV
In Proverbs 25:18:
A man who bears false witness against his neighborIs like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.” NKJV
In Deuteronomy 27: 24-25:
‘Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.’“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’
‘Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.’“And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’NKJV
In Exodus 21:14:
“But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.” NKJV
In Leviticus 19:13:
‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning.” NKJV
In Leviticus 19:15:
‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.”
In Leviticus 19:16:
You shall not go around as a gossip among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor [with slander or false testimony]; I am the Lord.” AMP
In Proverbs 3:29:
Do not devise evil against your neighbor, who lives securely beside you.” AMP
In Psalm 28:3:
“Do not drag me away with the wicked and with those who do evil, who speak peace with their neighbors, while malice and mischief are in their hearts.” AMP
In Proverbs 16:29:
“A violent and exceedingly covetous man entices his neighbor [to sin] and leads him in a way that is not good.”AMP.
In Ecclesiastes 4:4:
I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.” AMP
“Let everyone beware of his neighbor and do not trust any brother. For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother’s heel], And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer. “Everyone deceives and mocks his neighbor and does not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They exhaust themselves with sin and cruelty. “Their tongue is a murderous arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart, he lays traps and waits in ambush for him.” AMP
In Ezekiel 22:12:
“In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [a percentage of] profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression and extortion, and you have forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.” AMP
So, with all these scriptures, what can we learn from the Bible?
Your neighbor that is living close by you is actually another human being like you. They may talk differently, eat different foods and have cultures that are different from yours, yet the Bible considers them to be closer to you than their own relatives because they live closer to you.
Do not conspire or gang up against your neighbor. Do not bear false witness or tell lies against them. Do not envy them to the point that you hate them. If you see anything good in them, you may want the same things as a way to improve yourself, but do not destroy them because of what they have that you desire. If you cannot help you neighbor, leave them alone. Don’t go out of your way to injure, insult or harm them.
Don’t tell lies against your neighbors, just to get them into trouble. Don’t fabricate lies in order to gain advantage over them or to get even with them. Don’t entrap or harm your neighbors or their children, just to get at them. Don’t steal from your neighbors. If they have graciously lent you an item, don’t change it and give them something else that is broken or of a lesser value.
Don’t be the neighborhood gossip, a tattletale, a tale bearer, the one everyone in the neighborhood goes to when they want to know what happened. Don’t give secondhand information when you were not there as an eyewitness.
Don’t pretend to help your neighbor when in fact what you are doing is to harm them. If they trust you enough to ask for your help, do not offer help that is actually calculated to harm them or other members of their family.
Do not entice your neighbors children to take an unfair advantage over them. Do not keep your own children safe and secure as you look for ways to harm your neighbors' children to get them into trouble. They see you as an authority figure and are likely to follow and obey your instructions. Do not set traps for your neighbors, hoping that they will fall into it. Remember what the Bible says in Psalm 7:14-16:
“Behold, the [wicked and irreverent] man is pregnant with sin, and he conceives mischief and gives birth to lies. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap]. His mischief will return on his own head, and his violence will come down on the top of his head [like loose dirt].” AMP
Don’t be the hypocrite who goes to church on Sunday and sings with gusto with others, saying:
“I’m gonna treat everybody right.
I’m gonna treat everybody right,
I’m gonna treat everybody right, until I die.
I’m gonna treat everybody right.
I’m gonna treat everybody right,
I’m gonna treat everybody right, until I die.”
Liar! Liar!
Truth be told, you belong to those the Bible describes in Revelation 3:9 as members of the “Synagogue of Satan”.
Finally, don’t be like those described in the Bible as “men who lie in wait for innocent blood.”
In Proverbs 2:10-18, King Solomon has this advice for his son. He says:
“My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us;Let us lie in wait to shed blood,Let us ambush the innocent without cause; Let us swallow them alive like Sheol (the place of the dead),Even whole, as those who go down to the pit [of death]; We will find and take all kinds of precious possessions,We will fill our houses with spoil; Throw in your lot with us [they insist];We will all have one money bag [in common],” My son, do not walk on the road with them;Keep your foot [far] away from their path, For their feet run to evil,And they hurry to shed blood. Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net in the sight of any bird; But [when these people set a trap for others] they lie in wait for their own blood; They set an ambush for their own lives [and rush to their destruction].”
AMP
Enough said!
