What It Truly Means to Love Your Neighbor in Modern Times

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36 ESV).

It’s one of the most profound questions that’s ever been asked. Jesus’s answer was beautifully clear: to love God with everything we are, and the second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39 ESV).

This command is not a gentle suggestion; it is the foundation of Christian ethics, the very measure of our faith in action. But in a world of complex social problems, political division, and deep-seated injustice, what does it truly mean to follow this command today?

The answer is not found in a political platform or a secular ideology. It is found in pursuing biblical justice with biblical methods: love, service, generosity, with the invitation for individual hearts to be transformed by the power of the gospel.

The Foundation: A Transformed Heart

Before we can truly love our neighbor, we must address the state of our own hearts. The Bible teaches that the root of all injustice is sin––sin that is often manifested in greed, exploitation, prejudice, and selfishness. A heart focused on itself cannot genuinely love others. We can create programs and pass laws, but unless the human heart is changed, these problems will persist.

This is why the gospel is the starting point for all true justice. The message of Jesus Christ is one of profound transformation. When we recognize our own need for grace and accept the sacrificial love of Jesus, our hearts are renewed. He breaks down our pride and selfishness and fills us with His Spirit.

From this inner transformation flows a new ability to love. We begin to see others not as competitors or obstacles, but as people created in the image of God, just as we are. Our actions are motivated by a grateful response to the love we have first received (see 1 John 4:19).

The Method: Love in Action

With a transformed heart as the foundation, biblical justice is pursued through methods that reflect the character of God Himself.

1. Sacrificial Love

When asked, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25–37). The hero of the story was the one who crossed social, racial, and religious barriers to show mercy to a man in desperate need. He didn't just feel pity; he acted. He bandaged a stranger’s wounds, took him to safety, and paid for his care. This is our model: Love is a tangible, sacrificial, and compassionate action that meets the real needs of others, no matter who they are.

2. Humble Service

Jesus, the King of Kings, did not come to be served, but “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 ESV). He washed His disciples' feet, ate with outcasts, and touched the untouchable. Following Him means embracing this same posture of humility. We are called to use our strength, our skills, and our position to lift others up. In Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that serving “the least of these brothers and sisters” (v. 40 NIV)—the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the prisoner—is the same as serving Him directly. Jesus continually nudges us beyond our current comfort zones to serve and love our neighbors.

3. Voluntary Generosity

Our time, our talents, and our treasure are all a gift from God. Biblical justice calls us to hold these resources with an open hand. This is not the forced redistribution of wealth advocated by worldly systems, but the voluntary and cheerful generosity that flows from a grateful heart (see 2 Corinthians 9:7). In the book of Acts, we see the early church model this beautifully, sharing their possessions so that “there was no needy person among them” (Acts 4:34 NIV). Love was what motivated them to give.

The Challenge: Loving Our Neighbor in a Complex World

Living out this call today is not simple. We face systemic issues and bitter divisions that need wisdom and discernment. When Christians step into these messy spaces to advocate for the vulnerable, they are sometimes misunderstood or mislabeled.

But our compass must remain the Word of God, not political debates. Our mission is not to win an argument or align with a party, but to demonstrate the love of Christ. We must listen to those who are hurting, speak truth with grace, and work for righteousness and peace with the humility of a servant. We must engage in the difficult work of reconciliation, equipped with prayer and guided by the Holy Spirit.

To love your neighbor is the beautiful, challenging, and essential work of every Christian. It is the natural outflow of a heart transformed by Jesus, and it is the most powerful witness to a watching world. Let us, therefore, pursue it faithfully, for in doing so, we fulfill the law and bring glory to our God.

Expanding Your Comfort Zone

How, then, do we take this profound command and apply it in our daily lives? The journey begins with taking a single, intentional step outside of our personal comfort zone.

Perhaps it starts with a simple act of service, like bringing in your neighbor’s trash cans from the street. Maybe it grows into a greater commitment, like offering consistent rides to a single mother who needs to get to work or visiting a neighbor’s daughter in the hospital after she was a victim of a drive-by shooting in their home. These are wonderful and tangible expressions of God's love, and those who receive them are genuinely blessed by such generosity.

But the model of Christ calls us to press even deeper, beyond initial acts of kindness and into the heart of our neighbor's need. We must not stop there. Take one more step. What if getting to know your neighbor’s needs leads you to share your own food when they run out? What if helping that single mother with transportation leads you to help her pay the court fees that stand in the way of her driver's license and her stability? What if you not only prayed for the family whose home was the target of a shooting, but also helped repair the bullet holes, protecting them from potential eviction and restoring a piece of their security?

This is the beautiful, challenging work of loving our neighbor. It requires more than just our resources; it requires our presence, our time, and our willingness to be moved by the needs of others. Ask Jesus to nudge you ever closer to His example, stretching your capacity to love and transforming your heart to reflect His own. Then, invite the disciplemakers you’re investing in to explore this question with you: What does loving my neighbor look like and why is it essential as a disciplemaker of Jesus?