Do you show partiality toward certain people? Is it toward a certain type of people? Does that type of behavior demonstrate love of your neighbor? How do you show love to your neighbor? Do you know who your neighbor is? Are you willing to accept everyone as your neighbor?
Showing partiality toward certain people can be a challenge for us. It is easy to be partial to people with the same ideologies, culture, and even race. It is easy to be partial toward people we like and hang out with. We don’t mind being a good neighbor to them.
Yet, being a good neighbor to only those we like is not what Jesus has called us to. He has called us to be a good neighbor to those who are different culturally, of a different race, and even those with different ideologies. He has called us to be a good neighbor to those who are marginalized in our society.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for us is to be a good neighbor to someone with a different theological viewpoint. We sometimes see one denomination looking down at the others, thinking they are better and showing partiality to their members. Again, this is not what Jesus called us to. He called us to be unified in Him.
James calls being a good neighbor the royal law. He is pointing to the fact that it is the only outward way we can show others we are obeying Jesus. We can pray silently. We can read God’s Word with no one around. We can sit silent in worship services. But if we are a good neighbor, we must interact with other people. Often those people are the marginalized people Jesus spent most of His time with. We might want to be more like Jesus and obey His commands.
I pray we all seek to love our neighbor. I pray we decide to obey Jesus’ commands. I pray each one of us will follow the royal law and love everyone we come in contact with. Love those who are different from you. Love everyone you meet. Love like Jesus. Obey His commands.
James 2:8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Marty Pressey 