In our time, to love our neighbour is something difficult to do; to love her selflessly is perhaps impossible, why all the religions keep on stressing this principle? How do the believer put it into practice? Because of some selfish gain or because of any higher reason?
2006-10-27 11:20:49 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Religions continue to stress this principle because it is very important. You can not just pretend to like everyone but you actually have to try and do it. It is a VERY hard practice to get into, thinking positively of others, and loving them. It is hard, that's why we have to do it. If everything were easy, life would pretty much be a waste. A believer should start putting it into practice by thinking good thoughts, everything starts with a thought. Think positively of others and be nice to everyone and do not talk negatively to others about other people (gossipping is bad and it hurts). It will be reallly hard to find something good about some people, but it is possible. There is a higher reason, it is definitely not for selfish gain.
2006-10-27 11:26:48 · answer #1 · answered by sg 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It should be done because it is the right thing to do. To forgive unconditionally as you have been forgiven by God. To give unconditionallly as God has given to you. To have mercy unnconditionally as God has shown you mercy.
It is a maturity issue. IN the faith journey the goal is to become more and more like Christ. THe way this is done is by giving up on your own thoughts, ideas, desires and live out the thoughts, ideas and desires of Christ. Literally becomming Jesus with skin on.
Is it easy? No. Is there a reward? Yes, internal peace and joy.
Is your access to heaven dependant on it? I do not believe it is. I do believe that I will have to answer for my poor behavior or missed opportunities to help/love an neighbor or stranger. I do not know wnat that answering session will look like but I would rather not find out.
2006-10-27 11:31:20 · answer #2 · answered by mike g 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you dislike someone or even to the point of hating that person, guess what, the one who gets hurt is . . . . . . .YOU!
There is a saying:
Do not hate your enemy as the hatred will cloud your judgement and prevent you from functioning as you should in defeating them thru strategy.
Love in ones heart, does not mean falling in love with them, and many times it is said, Love is the absence of hate and hate can eraticate love like a powerful acid, and that takes place inside you.
Snatch the pebble from my hand grasshopper, and someday, when you see the light, you will know what I and others are saying to you. It can be very simple and it is, but through the eyes of one unenlightned, it is a mysterious and impossible thing to see.
The entire universe is made up of equal and opposite forces.
Night- day, Hot- cold, Happy-Sad, and last but not least, Love-Hate. These opposites are represented by the Yin-Yang emblem of China and it is said that too much of Yin can cause you to die.
This probably sounds like so much babble to you, so I think I will go now.
Darryl S.
2006-10-27 11:44:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
peace of mind and heart. someone who loves another selflessly has no need for anything and will be blessed by others because at the heart of it, most people are good and will help those who seek it. i respect my neighbors, i treat them as i would want to be treated and i show them compassion, because of this if they make a pie they know i like, guess what, i get some of it. when i'm down, they take time out to make me laugh. treating others with selfless love and respect gets you respect and love in return, maybe not from your neighbors but someone is always watching and if that person changes for the better because of your selfless act, how is that a bad thing?
2006-10-27 11:43:02 · answer #4 · answered by bobzyoda@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The trouble is in the question what is my gain in loving selflessly - To be truly selfless you need to love someone without any thought or desire to have personal gain in any way. Yet all to often it can be perceived to be all to human to have at least a little pride in 'helping someone out' Therefore it takes a unique kind of person to truly feel no pride, no sense of self betterment in anyway by loving someone. I can not find anyone who truly believes that can you?
2006-10-27 11:27:08 · answer #5 · answered by waggy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wouldn´t you like a better neighborhood, a better city and better world. ? One can start loving oneself , then the closest and so on.. spreading love is a good thing to do. Just little things as a smile, , a hello. a gesture, you never know when your love can touch a needed soul . Love is not selfish, so you don t have to expect a gain, except the inner satisfation of doing good.
2006-10-27 11:37:38 · answer #6 · answered by nikkita 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not as hard as it seems.
Jesus asked us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemy's, and to love our neighbor.
If we actually do this we escape from the anger and fear that seeing others as a threat to us creates in our minds.
This anger and fear is like a poison that pollutes our lives and keeps us miserable.
It can be completely avoided if we just view everyone as the precious part of God that they are.
To see it any other way is to see some part of God as unacceptable.
How likely is that?
Read the course in miracles. It explains this far better than anything else I have ever seen.
It also shows you how to overcome the internal blocks you have that keep you from doing this.
love and blessings Don
2006-10-27 11:31:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I guess it's just a nice thing to do; however, I cannot imagine loving all people selflessly, and that's why I'm an atheist (in that case, maybe I'm not qualified enough to talk about this).
2006-10-27 11:23:52 · answer #8 · answered by dalgirl990 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's part of the growth of your faith.
Spiritual growth is just that - growth. You start as a child in faith. As you grow in faith, the things that you once thought to be hard, difficult or impossible, become so much less so.
The "gain" for you is spiritual maturity and strengthening of faith.
Good question. Keep your mind and heart open...and keep asking.
2006-10-27 11:29:08 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Loving thy neighbor is but one of the 10 commandments that God gave to humanity. These commandments are not only the foundation of the government of God, they are an expression of His character. To change or to alter them in any way is to do that to God Himself, in His face, telling Him that He knows nothing, and that He got it wrong. This is a very serious crime against God.
2006-10-27 11:35:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋