Love Everyone

“Some people try to escape their force by limiting the definition of neighbor. But when Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He told the parable of the good Samaritan, which teaches that every person we meet is our neighbor (Luke 10:29-37). No man anywhere, no matter who he is or what he is like, no matter what language he speaks, what skin color he has, or what social or cultural group he belongs to, is excluded from being my neighbor. This is an absolute standard which we must practice, not just a vague emotional reaction. If we do not practice this, we are sinning and will be judged. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes even further:

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. - Matthew 5:44-45

Jesus did not simply define neighbor as friend, our group or someone who treats us nicely. We are to love the man who does something mean and nasty to us, the man who deliberately sabotages us. This is God’s absolute standard: we are never to steal, bear false witness, commit adultery, or covet, regardless of the persons we are dealing with. He is speaking here about any man we meet anywhere in the world. God allows no relativism in any of this, none whatsoever.” - No Little People by Francis Schaeffer