DAY 7: Love from Difficulty

Samuel lives with six other families in a very small place. He shares a room with five other children. Sometimes, he wishes that he and his family had a place of their own. He knows that money is tight, so he wants his mom and dad to be able to find better jobs. In the meantime, he wants to get along with all of the other families and especially the other children.

God has commanded that all people everywhere love Him and love others. In fact, these two aspects of love are the summation of the entire law. “Love the Lord Your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your strength, and with all of your mind. You are also to love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

These two commandments are deeply connected. If you do not love God, then you cannot possibly love your neighbor. And if you do not love your neighbor, it is proof that you do not love God supremely. We are called to love because God is love, and He demonstrated His love for us by sending us Jesus Christ to save us, transform our lives, and grow us in His likeness. Now we are freed up to love God and love our neighbors. But who, exactly, are our neighbors?

God does not define “neighbor” as those who are in our neighborhoods. He doesn’t even define it as those who live in the same town as us. In fact, God does not limit it at all. He says that everyone is our neighbor. In other words, we are commanded to love all people as ourselves. This includes those people who are hard to love. This includes those people who have hurt us. This includes those people we do not even know. We are to show them the same love that God showed to us.

Let us pray for Samuel that God would honor his request to get along with the others. In fact, let’s ask God to give Samuel a heart that not only gets along but truly loves others as himself. And let’s also ask the Lord to bless Samuel and his family (as well as all the other six families) this year. May the Lord shower them with goodness and mercy all the days of their lives.