neighbor
You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. Luke 10:27 ICB
Who are our neighbors?
We usually think of neighbors as the people living close to us. But the Greek word for neighbor[1] in the Bible means everyone we know and even people we don’t know.
When Jesus first said, “You must love your neighbor as you love yourself,” someone asked him, “Who is my neighbor?”
What that person really wanted to know was: “Do I have to love every single person as much as I love myself?” He had some enemies in a village nearby, and he was hoping he didn’t have to love them too.
Jesus told this story to help him understand:
A man was badly hurt and lying on the side of the road. Robbers had beaten him and taken all his money. Soon, a religious leader walked by and pretended not to notice him. Later, another person came along, but he didn’t bother to help either. Finally, a man from the enemy village stopped to care for the man. He bandaged his wounds and took him to a hotel. He even paid for all the food and medicine he needed to get better.
Jesus wants us to be more like the man who stopped to help. He wants us to love everyone–even if we don’t know them, and even if it feels hard.
He will help us to be kind and brave so we can care about our neighbors as much as we care about ourselves.
[1] “G4139 – plēsion – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (NIV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 7 Feb, 2026. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4139/niv/mgnt/0-1/>.
From my heart to yours,
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