And the second is like, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
– Mark 12:31

Thought on Today’s Verse:

One scribe asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest. Jesus told him with this verse: Love your neighbor as yourself.
We are not strange to Jesus’ this commandment, but when we practice it, we feel it’s so hard. For example, it’s easy to love others as ourselves when there’s no conflict of interests between us and relatives, friends or colleagues. However, once there’s friction between us or something harm our interests, we cannot love others as ourselves.Many times when facing these situations, we will rely on our hot blood instead of practicing Jesus’ commandment. After the matter is over, we will repent time and again: Why are we unable to act according to Jesus’ words then? Why do we repent every time without true changes? Later, I saw a passage saying like this: “Cruel, brutal mankind! The conniving and intrigue, the jostling with each other, the scramble for reputation and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? God has spoken hundreds of thousands of words, yet no one has come to their senses.” It can be seen that the reason why we cannot love one another is that we are living within the bondage of Satan, seeking nothing but profit, scrambling for fame and gain.
Jesus Christ once said, “And why behold you the mote that is in your brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye? …, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5). So, if we want to get along well with others, we shouldn’t always fix our eyes on others but inspect ourselves. Meanwhile, we should treat others fairly, be tolerant and patient with others’ deficiencies, then we’ll be able to relate well to others.In fact, it’s so hard to love others as ourselves without spiritual communication. I saw a passage some time ago: “If people have no verbal or spiritual communication, there is no possibility of intimacy between them, and they can’t provide to each other or help one another. Do you have such a feeling? If your friend says everything to you, saying all of what they’re thinking in their heart, and what suffering or happiness they have in their heart, then do you not feel particularly intimate with them? That they are willing to tell these things to you is because you have also spoken of the words in your heart to them—you are especially close, and it is because of this that you are able to get along with them and help each other out.” The passage shows us a good way. If we want to get along harmoniously with others, we also need to lay bare the thoughts and difficulties deep in our hearts in discussion with others, and learn to listen to the opinions of others at the same time. In this way, we help and sustain one another, naturally we will become closer.