Matthew 22:39

Our Neighbors

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matthew 22:39.

You all know what a neighbor is. If you were asked to give the meaning of the word, your quick answer would be, “One who lives near.” And that is the right answer, for “neighbor” comes from two words meaning “near” and “a dweller.”

Now, Jesus Christ says we are to love our neighbors. But by neighbors He doesn't mean merely the people who live next door or on the same flat. You have other neighbors besides these. You have companions who play or study alongside of you, just as men and women have people who work beside them. Your classmates or your playmates are your neighbors.

With that idea in your mind put this other question to yourself, “Whom do I love best in this world?” I believe most of you would at once answer, “My mother.” Others might say, “My baby sister.” There would be many answers. I wonder if any of you would have “Myself” on your tongue. I believe some boys and girls really love themselves best. On the other hand, some grown-up people are very unselfish. I know mothers who would give their lives for their boys and girls, and everybody feels very solemn at the remembrance of the wonderful self-sacrifice of the young soldiers who died for us during the World War I.

To love yourselves best is almost natural for you boys and girls. You are most in the company of your own selves, you know your own faults, and you know your own good qualities. You make excuses for yourselves if you have done wrong. You say, “I was led into doing that mean trick.” “I never meant to tell that lie; it was the other fellow's fault.” But if you come to know that a companion has done something very mean you condemn him or her, as the case may be unmercifully. One thing which it is good for us all to remember is, that to be possessed with a great love for ourselves is to be selfish. We cry over our own pains. Are we sorry when our companions suffer? Do we try to put ourselves into their place? Do we give a thought to poor boys and girls who perhaps have very little to eat?

The other day I read of a little girl who stood looking in with hungry eyes at a baker's shop window. A lady passing felt very sorry for her and bought some of the cakes. The little girl received the dainties without a word until, when bidding good-bye, she said, “Be you God's wife?” If boys and girls loved their neighbors, wouldn't the world be a good place to live in?

There is a beautiful legend about loving one's neighbor which I read the other day.

The Rabbis say that once upon a time there were two affectionate brothers who tilled the same farm. On a certain night, after the ingathering of the harvest, one of them said to his wife, “My brother is a lonely man, who has neither wife nor children; I will go out and carry some of my sheaves into his field.” It happened that on the same night the other said, “My brother has wife and children, and needs the harvest more than I; I will carry some of my sheaves into his field.” So the next morning their respective sheaves were as numerous as before. And thus it happened night after night, until at length one moonlight night the brothers with their arms full of sheaves met midway face to face. On that spot the Temple was built, because it was esteemed to be the place where earth was nearest Heaven.

If we think often of Jesus Christ, who lived His life on earth for us, we shall want to think less about ourselves and more about our neighbors. Love will grow in our hearts for them.

I daresay some of you have heard of a preacher called Henry Drummond. He loved young men very much, and his chief characteristic was forgetfulness of self. One night a man went to him in a difficulty about religion. Henry Drummond asked him, “Have you ever helped anyone?” “No,” the man answered. “Well, go now and help somebody. I don't care how or when you do it. Simply do it.” That was the comfort offered him by Henry Drummond.

Boys and girls, find someone to be kind to in the playground or at home. I read the other day somewhere that “a man is only half himself till he has found a brother to take care of.” And we want you to grow up great and good men and women.