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Holiness is Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

Holiness is Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

Posted on July 12, 2022 Posted By: KBCF Categories: Devotion

Leviticus 19:9-18; Mark 12:29-31

Day 4

Note: This devotional is taken from the 2022 Midyear Prayer and Fasting Week.

Start to Connect

In the Old Testament to be holy is to be a good neighbor. Jesus would like His followers to be good neighbors. (Luke 10:37) We’ll learn today the different ways to be a good neighbor.

Truth to Ponder

  1. Leviticus 19 spells out what it is to be holy in God’s sight. Vs. 1-4 defines who we are in our homes and what we teach our children in and through our lives. Vs. 5-8 points to ritual practice and how we need to be mindful of how we go about it. Vs. 9-18 illustrates our relationship with our neighbors and those around us. Holiness is loving your neighbor as yourself. In the modern world, with our busy lives, we seldom are concerned with our neighbors. In God’s sight, who we are to our neighbors is a matter of being holy. (Luke 10:37)   
  2. The phrase “Remember your first love” (Revelations 2:4-5) evokes memories of the times when we passionately pursue holiness (We’re not even aware that such is holiness.) because of our love for God. (Remember when we first came to know Him!?) In Mark 12:29-31, Jesus equates loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength with loving our neighbors as ourselves. In a way, the command for us to be holy is God telling us to remember our first love.

Examine The Word

  1. Read Leviticus 19:9-10 prayerfully. Perhaps we find it hard to relate to the agricultural setting of this passage, but what do you think is the modern-day equivalent for us of God’s command, “You shall leave them for the poor and the sojourners: I am the Lord your God.”? (v.10; i.e., making provisions from our resources to give to the poor.)
  2. Read Leviticus 19:11-12 prayerfully. With regards to our dealings with our neighbors, two commands stand out, “You shall not s______” and “You shall not l___”. These commands become more serious for us now that we bear His name! (CHRISTians!) What is your reaction?
  3. Read Leviticus 19:13-14 prayerfully. This passage warns us in the way that we conduct ourselves with our neighbors when we feel we have power over them, whether real or imagined. We shall always treat them with k____________. Why?
  4. Read Leviticus 19:15-18 prayerfully. Usually, when grudges and/or bitterness with our neighbors have piled up, conflicts are taken to court. (At that time, this was taken up “in the gate” among elders, and neighbors stand as witnesses and/or called to be in the panel of judges, v.15) Thus, it is important to do away with bitterness and not hold grudges. (vs. 17-18). According to v. 17, how does one prevent himself to be bitter?
    With the lessons learned from this passage in Leviticus and after reading prayerfully Mark 12:29-31, what does loving your neighbor as yourself mean to you personally?

Personal Application

  1. As we consecrate ourselves to be holy, the Lord is telling us that we need to remember our first love. (Truth to Ponder no. 2 above) What step(s) would you be taking to respond to this reminder from God?
  2. What lesson(s) from our study of Leviticus above regarding holiness and loving our neighbor strike/s you the most?
    What step(s) would you be taking to apply this (these) lesson in your life?
  3. Bitterness and/or grudges have nothing to do with holiness. In the light of the recently concluded contentious election, and in response to God’s call for you to be holy, is there any bitterness or grudge that you need to do away with?
  4. Ask God to reveal the condition of your heart. (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:27)

Prayer List

 NATION: Government Platform

Pray national leaders to uphold continuity of long-term government programs, for new administration to consider the past administration’s Ten-point Agenda — Numbers 1 to 5:

1.    Strengthen healthcare capacity
2.   Accelerate and expand the vaccination program
3.   Further reopen economy and expand public transport capacity
4.  Resume face-to-face learning
5. Reduce restrictions on domestic travel and standardize LGU requirements

 CHURCH/MINISTRIES

The Lord to provide a full-time pastor for the Spiritual Care department (SCD).

 FAMILY/HEALTH/PERSONAL BREAKTHROUGHS

Holy Spirit’s enablement for family members to enhance physical fitness and outdoor activities, to go back to more nutritious home-cooked meals; breakthroughs to discard habits acquired during the pandemic that are not healthy for the spirit and for the body.

 MISSIONS

Pray for our missionaries, local and cross-cultural, for their sensitivity to God’s leading in their lives and ministries, strength and good health, protection from the evil one and empowerment as they proclaim the Gospel, make disciples and engage the people groups they are reaching out to.
Pray for our Local Missionaries: Set 2

  1. Pastor Buboy and Barbs Pabia (ABCCOP-Bukidnon)
  2. Eve Bariuan (House Church Movement)
  3. Joy Famador (Micah Philippines, Vote Net, Global Integrity Network)
  4. Dra. Cynthia Hubalde (Shiloh Bible Christian Fellowship, Pasig)
  5. Wilma Limjoco (Philippine Sending Council of SEND International)
  6. Pastor Freddy Vasquez (Northview Christian Fellowship)
  7. Marcelo Boot (Companion with the Poor)
  8. Mel Micah Catalon (Campus Crusade for Christ)
  9. Sonny Cristobal (Kairos Bible Christian Fellowship, Bagong Silangan, Quezon City)