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Love your neighbor

Connect dignity, justice, love for enemies and practical service.

1. 1. Read and discover - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Luke 10:25-37

   ²⁵ Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

   ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”

   ²⁷ He answered, “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.”

   ²⁸ He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”

   ²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

   ³⁰ Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

   ³¹ By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

   ³² In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

   ³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,

   ³⁴ came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

   ³⁵ On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’

   ³⁶ Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

   ³⁷ He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

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   Understanding the passage

   The Samaritan crosses a social boundary to care for the injured man; Jesus shifts the question toward acting mercifully.

   Reflect

   • How does the Samaritan show what it means to become someone’s neighbor?

   Put it into practice

   Offer practical help without making group membership a condition.

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2. 2. Creation as gift - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Genesis 1:1-31

   ¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

   ² The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

   ³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

   ⁴ God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.

   ⁵ God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.

   ⁶ God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”

   ⁷ God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

   ⁸ God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

   ⁹ God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.

   ¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.

   ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so.

   ¹² The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

   ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

   ¹⁴ God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;

   ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.

   ¹⁶ God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.

   ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,

   ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

   ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

   ²⁰ God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”

   ²¹ God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.

   ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

   ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

   ²⁴ God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.

   ²⁵ God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

   ²⁶ God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

   ²⁷ God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

   ²⁸ God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

   ²⁹ God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

   ³⁰ To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

   ³¹ God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

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   Understanding the passage

   The account orders days, creatures and blessings and affirms creation’s goodness; humanity receives dignity and responsibility.

   Reflect

   • What responsibilities toward people and creation do you find in this account?

   Put it into practice

   Care for a specific part of your surroundings this week.

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3. 3. Justice, mercy and humility - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Micah 6:8

   ⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

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   Understanding the passage

   Micah contrasts just living with multiplying offerings; relationship with God includes how others are treated.

   Reflect

   • What might justice, mercy and humility look like in daily life?

   Put it into practice

   Review a relationship in which you can act more fairly.

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4. 4. Love beyond one’s group - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Matthew 5:43-48

   ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

   ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,

   ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

   ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?

   ⁴⁷ If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?

   ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

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   Understanding the passage

   Jesus extends love even to enemies and connects it with the Father’s generosity; loving does not mean cooperating with harm.

   Reflect

   • What changes when love is not limited to those who treat us well?

   Put it into practice

   Pray for a difficult person without abandoning protective boundaries.

   Next lesson →

5. 5. The teacher who serves - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   John 13:1-17

   ¹ Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

   ² During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

   ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God and was going to God,

   ⁴ arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel around his waist.

   ⁵ Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

   ⁶ Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

   ⁷ Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.”

   ⁸ Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

   ⁹ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

   ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

   ¹¹ For he knew him who would betray him; therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”

   ¹² So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

   ¹³ You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.

   ¹⁴ If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

   ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should also do as I have done to you.

   ¹⁶ Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither is one who is sent greater than he who sent him.

   ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

   Read the full chapter

   Understanding the passage

   Jesus washes feet and offers his example to the disciples; service challenges hierarchies based on superiority.

   Reflect

   • What makes the teacher’s gesture surprising?

   Put it into practice

   Take on a caring task that often goes unnoticed.