T H E C H R I S T I A N I D E A L S:

LOVING GOD AND NEIGHBOR

NAME OF SPEAKER:
 Loving God and loving
neighbor form the inseparable
core of the Christian life.
LOVING GOD IS OUR
HIGHEST IDEAL.
"The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The
Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, with all your mind, and with
all your strength."
(Mark 12:29-30)
LOVING GOD
WITH ALL OUR
HEART
 To love God with all our heart
means to be totally committed to
Him.
How do we put the Lord first and foremost in our lives?

• By making a decision to obey Him

• By developing a personal relationship with Him

• By spending time with God, in prayer, and in scripture

reading
LOVING GOD
WITH ALL OUR
MIND and SOUL
We love God with all our mind and soul by keeping our mind clean
and holy

• Free from evil and impure thoughts

• Free from uncharitable thoughts

• Free from suspicions that damage relationships

• Free from worries knowing that God will take care of us

We can love God with all our mind and
soul by protecting and preserving our
mind from unholy influences so that God
can use us for his purposes.
LOVING GOD
WITH ALL OUR
STRENGTH
Loving God with all our strength
means giving God our time, talent,
and treasure
 Our perfect models for
loving God are Jesus and
Mary.
 LOVING OUR
NEIGHBOR
AS OURSELVES
 LOVE AS JESUS LOVES

"I give you a new commandment: love one

another. As I have loved you, so you also should
love one another."
(John 13:34)
"Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your
God, with your whole heart, with all your
soul, and will all your mind. This is the
greatest and the first commandment. The
second is like it: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself."
(Matthew 22:37-40)
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR ?
AM I BEING A NEIGHBOR TO OTHERS?
CHARACTERISTICS OF
CHRISTIAN LOVE
“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not
pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not
seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does
not brood over injury, and it does not rejoice over
wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures
all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

a. To love others is to be patient. We should be slow to anger. We should give

ample allowance for the shortcoming of others.

b. To love others is to be kind. We should avoid an attitude of criticism. We

should have a posture and speech that is up-building and encouraging.

c. To love others is to be not jealous of others. We should not covet what

others have or begrudge another for possessing something we do not have.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

d. To love others is to be not pompous or inflated. We should be humble

and think not of our own importance. We should be conscious of our own
unworthiness rather than our merit.

e. To love others is to be not rude. We should accord honor and respect to

one another, praise them if they do well and console them if they do badly.

f. To love others is to be not self-seeking. We should not focus on having our

rights met but focus rather on our duties to others.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

g. To love others is to be not quick-tempered. We should master our

emotions and feelings, slow to frown but quick to smile.

h. To love others is to not brood over injury. We should not hold grudges or
resentments but rather be forgiving and understanding of the weakness of
others.

i. To love others is not to rejoice over wrongdoing. We should always seek

the good in others, even with people that we find difficult to deal with.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

j. To love others is to rejoice in the truth. We should always be sincere and

honest and tell the truth to one another.

k. To love others is to have forbearance. We should patiently and humbly

bear insults, injuries and disappointments without taking counter action.

l. To love others is to have trust and to believe in the best about other
people. We should have a positive attitude towards others, always seeking their
good side.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE

m. To love others is to have hope. We should have a positive attitude towards

life and other people and remain joyful and peaceful under any circumstance.

n. To love others is to have endurance. We should develop an ability to bear

things, not with passive resignation but with triumphant attitude.
I am patient I do not rejoice over
I am kind wrongdoing but rejoice with
I am not jealous the truth
I am not pompous I bear all things
I am not inflated I believe all things
I am not rude I hope all things
I do not seek my own interests I endure all things
I am not quick-tempered
I do not brood over injury
Loving God and loving
neighbor have been likened
to the vertical and the
horizontal parts of the cross. LOVING NEIGHBOR
One directs upward to God,
while the other directs us

LOVING
horizontally towards our

GOD
fellow men.
DISCUSSION STARTER:

In your everyday life,

how have you failed to love
• God?
• Your neighbor?