Demand #34: Love Your Neighbor As Yourself and As Jesus Loved Us

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” — Luke 10:29

Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. — Matt. 7:12

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. — John 13:34-35

And Piper begins the chapter.................I don’t presume in the previous chapters to have solved all perplexities in the life of love. There are competing claims on our limited time and resources. There are hard choices about what to give up and what to keep. There are different interpretations of what is good for another person. I don’t mean that all of that becomes simple.

Radical Command and Radical Provision - What I do mean is this: Loving God sustains us through all the joy and pain and perplexity and uncertainty of what loving our neighbor should be. When the sacrifice is great, we remember that God’s grace is sufficient. When the fork in the road of love is unmarked, we remember with joy and love that his grace is sufficient. When we are distracted by the world and our hearts give way temporarily to............to finish reading what Dr. Piper has to say about this "demand," click the following link to download this book free of charge -
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/1822_What_Jesus_Demands_from_the_World/

Questions from the workbook - Chapter 34

To what does Jesus change the lawyer’s question in Luke 10:29? What implication does this have on our lives?

What was the lawyer’s question really an attempt at doing? Why does Jesus refuse to address such a question?

What role does Jesus’ death play on our obedience to the command to love?

What’s “new” about the new commandment? How is the new commandment harmonious with he “old” commandment?

How was Jesus “loving himself perfectly” (p. 268) when he died for us? Is it loving for him to ursue his own joy? Why or why not? Should you follow this example (i.e., pursuing your own joy in your loving others)? Why or why not?

*Next week - Laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven!

To that end.............