Love Without Limits Redefining Neighbor A Reflection on Luke 10:25 28 on the Daily Bible Refresh with Dr.

Brad Miller hello my good friend Dr.

Brad Miller here with Daily Bible Refresh.

So glad you joined me here on my mission to get the audible word of God into 2 million ears I a million people by 2028.

We do that by a daily reading of the New Testament.

We make it understandable when we use the Message version in the New Testament reading only.

We take that from the Revised Common Lectionary which is the three year cycle of reading through the entire Bible.

We are in Year C Eastertide season.

We make the reading also relatable by giving you three points to ponder and applicable by giving you an action step to follow of a prayer.

We do all that in under 10 minutes.

We also want to invite you to know that all this comes to you from our website, voiceofgodaily.com that's the home of the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Method.

Let's get into our reading for today.

Luke 10:25 28 Reading from the Message Defining Neighbor Just then, a religious scholar stood up and with a question to test Jesus, teacher, what do I need to get eternal life?

And he answered, what's written in God's law?

How do you interpret it?

He said that you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence, and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.

Good answer, said Jesus.

Do it and you'll live.

Hmm.

Wow.

What a powerful reframing and understanding of what we know as the great, great Commandment.

It's about redefining who neighbor is.

In this reflection, Jesus engages in this profound dialogue about the essence of spiritual life and neighborly love.

Here are some points to ponder.

The first one is about going beyond religious testing.

Notice how these interactions begin here with Jesus and the teacher.

A religious scholar, a teacher is trying to test Jesus, and this reflects a common pattern where a religious authority figure attempts to trap or test progressive people.

Rather than dismissing the question, Jesus turns it back to the questioner, challenging them to move beyond their theoretical debates to lived experience.

This reminds us that authentic faith is more about practice than about perfect theology.

A second point is about holistic love.

The command of to love God with all of our passion, prayer, muscle and intelligence presents a radically integrated view of spirituality.

This isn't just about emotional or intellectual faith.

It's about engaging our whole selves in the whole work of love.

For progressive Christians, this means our activism, our intellectual critique, our emotional compassion and our physical labor are all forms of divine love in action.

A third point is the revolutionary equation.

Jesus affirms that loving God and loving neighbor are intrinsically connected and that self love is the measuring stick of neighborly love.

This challenges both self depreciating religious traditions and individualistic modern culture.

It suggests that genuine social justice work must include both social self care and community care.

They're not opposing forces, but complementary expressions of divine love.

Let's talk about an action step that you can take.

I want to invite you to create a love inventory that is list two or three ways that you show love for yourself and two or three ways that you show love to others and two or three ways you show love for the divine to God.

And notice where these categories overlap and where they might be at tension.

Choose one area where you can bring these expressions of love into a better balance in your life.

Remember now that self care isn't selfish.

It's the foundation for sustainable justice work.

We're going to pray in just a moment.

I always want to remind you that we've got a great resource to help you on your own daily Bible study.

We hope that you make daily Bible study part of it.

Listening here to the daily Bible Refresh with me that gets the audible word into you.

I hope you'll join us on our mission to get the audible word of God into 2 million years a million people by 2028.

But a part of it is also important that you get your own individual Bible study in.

You know that it's a problem you may have.

I know it's one I have sometimes.

Here's a tool to help you head ON over to voiceofgoddaily.com and there you're going to find easy links to find our resource.

It's called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Guide.

You go there and you pick it up and it will help you with your daily Bible study.

Voiceofgoddaily.com let's pray oh beloved one God, help us break free from rigid religious testing and embrace the simple, challenging truth of love guidance and loving ourselves deeply, not as an act of selfishness, but as preparation for loving others more fully.

When we struggle with self criticism or compassion fatigue, remind us that caring for ourselves is a part of your divine command.

Help us find that sacred balance where love of self, neighbor and you flow together in perfect harmony in the spirit of revolutionary love.

Amen.

In the spirit of the love of God.

I come to you every day with the voice of God daily.

It's my hope and prayer that you join me again tomorrow.

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You can check those out as well@voiceofgoddaily.com Please join us as we have this mission reading the audible word of God into 2 million years.

A million people by 2028.

So I'll see you tomorrow.

Until then, remember that God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.