Spurgeon: March AM
* 03/12/AM
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour."
--Matthew 5:43
"Love thy neighbour." Perhaps he rolls in riches, and thou
art poor, and living in thy little cot side-by-side with his
lordly mansion; thou seest every day his estates, his fine
linen, and his sumptuous banquets; God has given him these
gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts
concerning him. Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not
better it, but do not look upon thy neighbour, and wish that he
were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.
Mayhap, on the other hand, thou art rich, and near thee
reside the poor. Do not scorn to call them neighbour. Own that
thou art bound to love them. The world calls them thy inferiors.
In what are they inferior? They are far more thine equals than
thine inferiors, for "God hath made of one blood all people that
dwell upon the face of the earth." It is thy coat which is
better than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they.
They are men, and what art thou more than that? Take heed that
thou love thy neighbour even though he be in rags, or sunken in
the depths of poverty.
But, perhaps, you say, "I cannot love my neighbours, because
for all I do they return ingratitude and contempt." So much the
more room for the heroism of love. Wouldst thou be a feather-bed
warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love? He who
dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be thy path of
love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbours through thick
and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard
to please, seek not to please them , but to please thy
Master ; and remember if they spurn thy love, thy Master hath
not spurned it, and thy deed is as acceptable to Him as if it
had been acceptable to them. Love thy neighbour, for in so doing
thou art following the footsteps of Christ.