Dear friends,

And all the commandments, all the laws and the words of the prophets rest on these two commands of God … LOVE GOD and LOVE ALL of your neighbors as yourself!

It’s the end of another year, which means Thanksgiving and Christmas will soon be our focus, at least until December 26th. It is a season when we declare we are thankful and a season when we make lists of stuff we want. It’s a season when people get angry if someone says ‘Happy Holidays’ even though it is a holiday season.

It’s a time when we are focused on us. Our Thanksgiving tradition, our Christmas tree, and our gift lists. But I am in the mood for love, as the song goes.

The other day one of my high school friends put a heart emoji as a comment on one of my morning PD@930 video streams. That was an affirmation that the day’s message made this friend happy. Posting hearts online, which I do all the time, is not a statement of love but of appreciation. However, what is wrong with declaring to friends of either sex that you love them? God did tell us to LOVE all our neighbors, not to merely accept them as neighbors.

Are we or are you afraid to say you love someone who is not a person in an “involved” relationship or marriage with you? Do you get angry with a person you are in a relationship with if they tell a friend that they love them?

It is so bizarre how we diminish God’s command, and perhaps that is why we find it so easy to join voices of prejudice and division. If we don’t love our neighbors then we most certainly can put them down, mock them, or imply they have less value than ourselves.

God and Jesus Christ were clear we are to LOVE all our neighbors!! We are to take care of the poor!! Clear Scriptures, and we also are to love the poor amongst us, we are to love the homeless amongst us, we are to love those different than us. Basically it is all about love.

I am in a text group with several friends who graduated high school with me. Some of us were friends back then but we are all really close now. Our group includes former cheerleaders, athletes, and nerds. The group’s members are both married and single but the one ongoing common message we share in texts and when we see each other is that we truly love each other. We love each other and would do anything to help each other. When Laurie’s mother died recently, we all openly told Laurie we love her even though Bob is the love of her life.

So this holiday season, let us be more open about posting hearts on our social media. Let’s use the words I LOVE YOU openly with each other, giving others encouragement in life. NEVER EVER criticize someone for sharing the simple words ‘I love you’ with another human, because God wants us to love all our neighbors.

And, as your Pastor … please know I LOVE ALL of you!

Blessings,

Pastor Dave

Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

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