Love Your Neighbor

Today's lesson is based on Jesus' words in Matthew 22: 37-39: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Dr. Tackett shared many other scriptures that help us to understand the heart of God. Using the story of the good Samaritan, Jesus describes the behavior of a good neighbor--one who has a sincere concern for those around him. Dr. Tackett recalled a child in his elementary school who was an outcast. He also recalled his first dance in which his dad asked him if there were any girls who were not asked to dance. Dr. Tackett shared that his dad encouraged him to ask those girls to dance because he had a real desire to love those who were needy--those who were outcasts, unpopular, or even homely.

We followed the DVD lesson with a discussion about our own school days and most of us recalled at least one student who was treated as an outcast. Some of us even contributed to the painful actions directed toward these students. We discussed the fine line between teaching our kids to treat all people with RESPECT versus a display of disdain for those who are different. We talked about our experiences in schools in which we have seen a student sitting alone at the lunch table, ostracized from the other students. Kids can be cruel and such a scenario is not unusual in our schools today.

Dr. Tackett asked us to consider the heart of God and to have the same compassion for the needy as God has. If we felt this same compassion, we would be looking for opportunities to include the disenfranchised. I hope you will consider this issue this week and perhaps, even discuss it with your kids. We must not only talk to our kids about the heart of God, but we must be a role model. They tend to imitate what they see. Thanks to all of you who love the Lord and who seek to imitate Him before your kids. Have a great week.

jc