No, that isn’t a typo. I said “outlove”, not outlive. To borrow an idea from my pastor’s sermon last Sunday, I’m going to run with this one.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:27
We are called to love one another…as we love ourselves. If this is true, there must be many who do not think very highly of themselves because there’s a lot of hatred and anger in the world. There’s a lot of name calling, people bashing, racism, bigotry, intolerance. That can only come from a lack of love.
The pastor spoke of the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus was teaching when an expert in the law stood up to test Him. He wanted a definition of exactly who is a neighbor. So Jesus, as he often did to illustrate His point, told a story. A traveler was accosted by robbers, stripped of his clothes, beaten, and left for dead by the roadside. A priest was coming and saw the man, bleeding profusely, and crossed the way to avoid him. Maybe he was late for an appointment. Maybe he was squeamish at the sight of blood. For whatever reason, he avoided the man who needed help. Then along came a Levite. This would be someone who assists in the Temple. He too crossed over and avoided the wounded man. Perhaps he felt his station was too lofty to stop and care for him. Perhaps he had just changed into his best robes and didn’t want to get in the gutter and get dirty with the traveler’s blood. Then along came a Samaritan. Now, a Samaritan was the lowest of the low in the society of that day and age. Samaritans were never even spoken to. The Samaritan saw the man lying there, ran to him, ministered to his wounds and carried him off to find lodging. He paid for someone to feed and house this stranger. The lowest of the low loved the most.
We love the downtrodden…to a certain extent. We think we would be there for someone…no matter what. But would we? Really? There are often conditions to love. Sometimes, love is bought and paid for. “I love you, but…” Getting in there and loving someone…really serving…is messy. We get their stuff all over us. It’s inconvenient. It is often uncomfortable. It needs a greater love than we feel we are capable of.
So, what would happen if we “outloved” each other? What would happen in the world if, in every interaction we had with our neighbors, we said to ourselves, “I am going to love them more than they could ever possibly love me!”? What if we all did that? The only way is up if outloving someone is your entire agenda. They didn’t love you back? That’s ok…outlove them anyway.
Love always trumps hate. Don’t be a sheep and hop on board the hatred bandwagon. Don’t be part of the problem. Be part of the solution.
❤️
“Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.””
Mark 12:29-31 MSG