Morning Musing Over Coffee - Loving Your neighbor

credit: Michelle Meiklejohn

The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor.

~ Hubert H. Humphrey

With the abundance of government programs available for so many different needs, it has become all too easy for the individual to shrug off the responsibility of loving their neighbor. Loving our neighbor is a theme all through the Bible. Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, and James 2:8 all speak of loving our neighbor. And nowhere have I seen it say to pass that responsibility over to the government. Love for our neighbor can be shown in many ways and sometimes what is needed more than anything else is an encouraging word, or friendship. Handouts are not necessarily the best way to love our neighbors, although true need should never be ignored.

A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's.

~ Richard Whately