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Leviticus 19:18

NASB	NLT	VOICE
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.	18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”	18 Do not seek revenge or hold a grudge against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself, for I am the Eternal One.

Love Not Based on Revenge

This is one of the instructions the Israelites were taught to live by if they wanted to be God’s holy people. To not seek revenge or hold a grudge shows how important it was for them to have community harmony. They were to focus on the ultimate goal of forgiveness. In ancient Israel, having a personal vendetta against someone could disrupt the social order and lead to bouts of violent acts. This was such an important command that Jesus taught about it (Matthew 5:39) and Paul advised against it (Romans 12:17-19.)

Their goal was to love your neighbor as yourself. It describes a life founded on empathy and selflessness. It encourages people to treat each other with the same type of care and respect that they would want for themselves. Your neighbor wasn’t the person that lived next door to you. Your neighbor describes all members of your community. It removed anything that separates us and focuses on those in need. It removes any biases and personal judgments and moves towards a place of unity and compassion.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: My hope is that others treat me with kindness, compassion, and respect in all circumstances. How do you wish to be treated?

Using the Frustrations of the World To Love

This rule falls in the beginning of what is known as the Holiness Code, a list of laws that were to show the world that they were going to live in a way that was distinct from the rest of the world. A way that showed the world the power, grace, mercy, and justice of Yahweh. Here are some other laws that precede this one:

• Don’t insult the deaf or make the blind stumble.
• Don’t twist justice legally by favoring the poor OR the rich. Be equal in your judgment.
• Don’t gossip.
• Don’t hate any of your family, but instead confront them directly.

A lot of these Old Testament commands that you can find in Leviticus 19 seems to be centered around how to properly care for someone the way we would want to be treated. These rules call us to stand up for fairness in our schools, in our communities, in our government, and more! I know if I was deaf or blind, I wouldn’t want to be insulted or treated unfairly. I would want the chance to live a life with the same rights as a seeing or hearing person. I wouldn’t want anyone to gossip about me. If you have got something to tell me, tell me. It may suck in the moment to hear, but I prefer hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Yet it feels like in this word, those who aren’t you’re working, white, heterosexual, adult male, being looked down upon and being treated as lesser. We just walked through an almost two-month long journey where children and impoverished families lost their SNAP benefits. We’re going through a journey right now where hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people, will lose their health insurance due to the government not extending the subsidies or providing an equitable plan. The people that we elected to best serve us are often serving themselves instead. How do we cope with that? How do we handle that? How do we “be ok” with that.

Truth is – we don’t. We do not have to be okay with where our world is at right now. We can be angry, infuriated, and ready to push against society to try and seek the best available for all communities. God doesn’t ask us to pretend everything is okay. Instead, we are called to use those feels to lead us into action, to help us get to a better world. We must remember that who we are and how we act are rooted in our relationship with Christ. We are called to reflect the light of Christ to all people that we meet. We can be God’s hands and feet to go out and fight for the rights of the marginalized, to love those that have felt excluded by the world, and to care for those that have gone unheard. To use our gifts and talents and resources to meet the needs of our community.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: If you were in charge of your community, what is one rule you would institute to help meet the needs of all people?

PRAY Action

Praise God for the rules and commands that He has given to us that allow us to live Holy lives separated from the world

Read Matthew 5:39

Ask God for the strength and ability to turn the other cheek. To be able not look for revenge and hold a grudge, but to be able to accept what had happened and to seek forgiveness in order to move forward.

You are capable to love. To receive the love that so desperately yearn for. No one should have to hold it over you, but it should be freely given as God has given it to you.

Next slice of manna: Finding Refuge Under God’s Wing || Psalm 36:7 || Manna for the Mind #311