July 4, 2018
Each of us should
please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. Romans 15:2
Loving our neighbor
means doing what helps them grow, not just doing what they want.
Celebrating our Independence is much easier AFTER the war
was over, but it wasn’t so easy for those who decided to sign the Declaration
of Independence.
According to Paul Harvey on one of his broadcasts years ago,
of the 56 signers of the Declaration, few were long to survive. Five were captured and tortured before dying,
twelve lost their homes to the enemy, two lost sons in the war, nine died as a
result of the war, and much more suffered from its anguish. Paul Harvey also said: they had learned that liberty is much more important than security, and
paid their lives for it.
Loving your neighbor doesn’t mean pleasing them with what
they want, but doing what’s best for them.
In the case of those 56 men, it meant being willing to take the heat and
lay down their wealth, families, and their own lives for the sake of liberating
their neighbor. Doing what is best for a
neighbor may not always make them happy, and certainly may cost us dearly, but
it is the stuff that true love pursues.
The example of those 56 men has been carried out millions of
times since. We have seen the sacrifice
of our military, and often our citizens, all in pursuit of loving their
neighbor. We’re not just talking about
dying for your country – we’re talking about living for your neighbor. That includes everything from showing kindness
to dying on the battlefield. Loving our
neighbor does what is best for them … not for the rewards, or for their
gratitude, or even for our future generations.
We do it because it is right, and it is what we need them to do for us.
There was one other person in that room the day those 56
signed the Declaration, and His Name is not written with the list, but it does
appear several times in the document.
His Name is the reason we would ever consider helping our neighbor. He was the one who showed us what loving our
neighbor looks like, both in the acts of kindness He showed and the price He
paid for us. In fact, it was His example
they followed when they concluded the Declaration with these words: And for
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of
divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and
our sacred Honor.
You may not be called to lay down your life for your
neighbor like Jesus did, but you certainly have been called to love your neighbor
like Jesus did. You’ve already had many
sacrifice for you, and One who paid it all for you eternally, so jump in and do
your part to love your neighbor too – not necessarily with what they want, but
with what is right and best for them.
And take a moment today to celebrate 56 men who did that for
you, because without them, we may not be living in our neighborhoods today.
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