Alive Youth Church Weekly,
What does it really look like to love our neighbor?
It's one of the most quoted commands of Jesus and most well-known even outside of church circles, and yet it might be one of the most misunderstood.
When most people hear “love your neighbor,” they think of being nice, polite, or helping someone in need every now and then. Those things matter, but Jesus had something much deeper in mind.
When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). In the story, a man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. Several religious people pass by without helping. Then a Samaritan, a person who would have been viewed as an outsider and even an enemy by many of Jesus’ listeners, stops, cares for the man, pays for his recovery, and makes sure he is taken care of.
The shocking part of the story isn't just that the Samaritan helped. It's that he helped someone he had every reason to ignore.
Jesus was redefining what it means to love our neighbor.
Loving our neighbor is inconvenient.
The Samaritan was on a journey. He had places to go and things to do. Stopping cost him time, money, energy, and comfort.
Real love often interrupts our plans, and that is what keeps us from it.
It's easy to love people when it's convenient. It's harder when someone needs encouragement while we're busy, when a friend is struggling, and we don't know what to say, or when helping someone means sacrificing our own comfort.
Our love is not measured by how we feel about people. It's measured by God's never-ending love for all people.
Loving our neighbor includes those who are different.
One reason the Good Samaritan story was so powerful is that the Samaritan was different from the injured man. I could go into a history lesson, but the idea is the same regardless: The two people would not normally interact.
Jesus was teaching that our neighbor isn't just the people who look like us, think like us, vote like us, or agree with us.
Our neighbor includes people who are different.
In a culture that often encourages division, followers of Jesus are called to be people of compassion and inclusion. We don't have to agree with everyone to treat them with dignity, respect, love, and care.
Loving our neighbor points people to Jesus.
The goal of loving our neighbor isn't simply to be a good person.
As Christians, we love because God first loved us.
Every act of kindness, every moment of compassion, every sacrifice we make reflects the heart of God. When we love people well, we give them a glimpse of the love that Christ has shown us.
Jesus said:
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
The world should recognize followers of Jesus not primarily by what we say, but by how we love.
Before thinking about what you will do this week, consider how you see the people around you.
When you walk into a room, what do you notice first? People's value or their usefulness? Their humanity or their differences? Do you see image-bearers of God, or do you see categories, labels, and first impressions?
Who have you unconsciously decided is not worth your attention?
Who have you reduced to a stereotype, a disagreement, a reputation, or a brief interaction?
Who have you stopped seeing altogether?
As students, a growing faith isn't measured only by how much Scripture you know or how often you attend church. It's also measured by whether your heart is becoming more like Christ's. Are you becoming more compassionate? More aware of others? More willing to see people the way God sees them?
Because the closer we grow to Jesus, the harder it becomes to ignore the people He loves. The evidence of a faith that is alive is not only that it looks upward toward God, but it also begins to look outward toward others.
What does it really look like to love our neighbor?
Should I knock on doors on my street?
"Hello, sir, how can I love you today?"
I can confidently tell you I will not be doing that.
So what then?
Jesus says,
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
It's one of the most quoted commands of Jesus and most well-known even outside of church circles, and yet it might be one of the most misunderstood.
When most people hear “love your neighbor,” they think of being nice, polite, or helping someone in need every now and then. Those things matter, but Jesus had something much deeper in mind.
When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). In the story, a man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. Several religious people pass by without helping. Then a Samaritan, a person who would have been viewed as an outsider and even an enemy by many of Jesus’ listeners, stops, cares for the man, pays for his recovery, and makes sure he is taken care of.
The shocking part of the story isn't just that the Samaritan helped. It's that he helped someone he had every reason to ignore.
Jesus was redefining what it means to love our neighbor.
Loving our neighbor is inconvenient.
The Samaritan was on a journey. He had places to go and things to do. Stopping cost him time, money, energy, and comfort.
Real love often interrupts our plans, and that is what keeps us from it.
It's easy to love people when it's convenient. It's harder when someone needs encouragement while we're busy, when a friend is struggling, and we don't know what to say, or when helping someone means sacrificing our own comfort.
Our love is not measured by how we feel about people. It's measured by God's never-ending love for all people.
Loving our neighbor means seeing people.
Many people today are surrounded by others and yet still feel invisible.
This is the paradox of modern loneliness.
In many ways, we are the most connected generation in history. We can instantly see what hundreds of people are doing. We can send a message across the world in seconds. We can share photos, thoughts, and updates with people we haven't seen in years. At any moment, we can present a carefully curated version of our lives for others to see.
We have unprecedented access to one another.
And yet loneliness remains.
Many people today are surrounded by others and yet still feel invisible.
This is the paradox of modern loneliness.
In many ways, we are the most connected generation in history. We can instantly see what hundreds of people are doing. We can send a message across the world in seconds. We can share photos, thoughts, and updates with people we haven't seen in years. At any moment, we can present a carefully curated version of our lives for others to see.
We have unprecedented access to one another.
And yet loneliness remains.
This tells me that being connected and being known are not the same thing.
We can have hundreds of followers and still feel unseen. We can be constantly updated on other people's lives while feeling like no one truly understands our own. We can spend hours communicating and still wonder if anyone really knows us beneath the surface.
The loneliness many people experience today isn't always the absence of people. It's the absence of genuine presence. It's the feeling of being surrounded, yet unknown. Visible, yet unnoticed. Connected, yet uncared for.
This is why loving our neighbor starts with truly seeing people.
Not scrolling past them. Not simply liking their post. Not assuming they're fine because their life looks good online. Loving our neighbor means slowing down enough to notice the person behind the profile, the smile, or the conversation. It means choosing to know people and allowing ourselves to be known in return.
In a world full of online connections, one of the most powerful acts of love may simply be making someone feel seen.
Loving our neighbor starts with really paying attention.
It means noticing the student who sits alone. It means remembering someone's name. It means asking a genuine question and actually listening to the answer. It means looking beyond and seeing people the way God sees them.
Jesus constantly noticed the people others overlooked. The outcasts, the hurting, the forgotten, and the broken sinners. If we want to love like Jesus, we must learn to see like Jesus.
Loving our neighbor includes those who are different.
One reason the Good Samaritan story was so powerful is that the Samaritan was different from the injured man. I could go into a history lesson, but the idea is the same regardless: The two people would not normally interact.
Jesus was teaching that our neighbor isn't just the people who look like us, think like us, vote like us, or agree with us.
Our neighbor includes people who are different.
In a culture that often encourages division, followers of Jesus are called to be people of compassion and inclusion. We don't have to agree with everyone to treat them with dignity, respect, love, and care.
Loving our neighbor points people to Jesus.
The goal of loving our neighbor isn't simply to be a good person.
As Christians, we love because God first loved us.
Every act of kindness, every moment of compassion, every sacrifice we make reflects the heart of God. When we love people well, we give them a glimpse of the love that Christ has shown us.
Jesus said:
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
The world should recognize followers of Jesus not primarily by what we say, but by how we love.
Before thinking about what you will do this week, consider how you see the people around you.
When you walk into a room, what do you notice first? People's value or their usefulness? Their humanity or their differences? Do you see image-bearers of God, or do you see categories, labels, and first impressions?
Who have you unconsciously decided is not worth your attention?
Who have you reduced to a stereotype, a disagreement, a reputation, or a brief interaction?
Who have you stopped seeing altogether?
We often think faith is primarily about our relationship with God. Reading our Bible, praying, worshiping, and going to church. Those things matter (As a youth pastor, students, please know the importance of these things). But Jesus taught that our love for God and our love for people are inseparable. They go together and build on each other. You cannot fully love God while remaining indifferent to the people He loves, and you cannot truly love people without first experiencing the love of the Father.
This is why loving your neighbor is not just a command about relationships, a list of dos and don'ts. It's a discipleship issue.
As students, a growing faith isn't measured only by how much Scripture you know or how often you attend church. It's also measured by whether your heart is becoming more like Christ's. Are you becoming more compassionate? More aware of others? More willing to see people the way God sees them?
Because the closer we grow to Jesus, the harder it becomes to ignore the people He loves. The evidence of a faith that is alive is not only that it looks upward toward God, but it also begins to look outward toward others.
In fact, the way you see people often reveals something about the condition of your heart. Look outward, pay attention, and learn more about where you are at within.
The story of the Good Samaritan challenges more than our behavior... it challenges our perspective. The priest and the Levite didn't just fail to help a man in need. Somewhere along the way, they learned to look at a suffering person and keep walking. Their problem began long before their actions. It began with how they viewed the person lying on the side of the road.
This should lead each of us into deep internal thought about ourselves.
What if the greatest obstacle to loving our neighbor is not a lack of opportunity, but a way of seeing? What if we've become so consumed with ourselves, our schedules, our opinions, and our priorities that we've stopped noticing the people God has placed right in front of us?
Jesus never looked at people as interruptions. He saw them as individuals worthy of attention, compassion, and love.
Maybe the challenge is not simply to ask, "Who is my neighbor?"
Jesus already answered that.
Maybe the deeper question is:
When I look at the people around me, do I see them the way Jesus does?
Because when our perspective changes, our actions inevitably follow.
This should lead each of us into deep internal thought about ourselves.
What if the greatest obstacle to loving our neighbor is not a lack of opportunity, but a way of seeing? What if we've become so consumed with ourselves, our schedules, our opinions, and our priorities that we've stopped noticing the people God has placed right in front of us?
Jesus never looked at people as interruptions. He saw them as individuals worthy of attention, compassion, and love.
Maybe the challenge is not simply to ask, "Who is my neighbor?"
Jesus already answered that.
Maybe the deeper question is:
When I look at the people around me, do I see them the way Jesus does?
Because when our perspective changes, our actions inevitably follow.
Students, this is one to sit with and think about. Read Luke 10, the story of the Good Samaritan, and let the scripture do what it does best. Convict and form you. If you have any questions, please reach out. If not, I'll see you Sunday at 6:30PM for Alive Youth Church!
Reminder:
- Middle Schoolers: This Sunday at 10:45, we have a service for you! During our second service in the ministry center. All you gotta do is show up and invite a friend. See you there!
- Camp is right around the corner. Get signed up if you haven't yet, and if you have, begin praying now. Jesus is going to do amazing things at camp this year, but he is working in your heart now in preparation. Join Him in preparing!
See you all soon!
-Isaac Fehlen
Youth Pastor
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