Who Do We Love Most?

This month we celebrated the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, this, the foundation of our faith.  How much Jesus loves us to to have come to earth and lay down His life for our redemption.  No one forced him to die for us.  He did it out of His own free-will knowing it was the will of His Father for us.  We must also learn how make the Father's will ...our will also.  Jesus considered us more important than thinking of himself and all the pain he would suffer.

God desires that Christ's love and selflessness become part of every believer.  It is our most important testimony.  Can we look at our own heart and see how we are doing reflecting Jesus?  As people we naturally evaluate everything and everyone in relationship to ourselves.  No matter who we  are, we evaluate everything in relation to how it might benefit, bless and promote ourselves; or how negatively it may affect our life and plans. Jesus' mindset was much different.  He always thought of others before himself.  This is Christ's example according to Philippians 2:3-4:

 "Do nothing out of selfish gain or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of us regard one another as more important than ourselves... not looking out for our own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."

Who is our neighbor?   Luke 10:25-37
And Jesus answered, ''27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind... and, Love your neighbor as yourself."  
Then someone asked Jesus "Who is my neighbor?  When we think of a neighbor, we think of someone who is in close proximity of ourselves.  But Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan.  We learn that God expects us to regard all people we come in contact with as our neighbors.  It presents us with  a great challenge to reach out to people across all social and cultural barriers,  We see others just as valuable as ourselves ...we reach out in Christ's love to help them in their need.  

How do we start?
With the parable of the Good Samaritan. those who were held responsible were the same people whose paths crossed with someone in need that day.  God will arrange for people in need to cross our path and He puts it within our ability to love and help them.  We do all in Jesus' name.  If we know Christ's teaching on this, why do we find it so hard to do it, with dedication and joy?  Often deep down in our heart we still  consider ourselves better than some other people.  We often do not want to lay down our personal agendas or lower ourselves to a servants status.  We need to remember what the Lord Jesus gave up to be become our Savior.  

     3 Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 6 Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
 7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
 8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—        even death on a cross!  (Philippians:1-11:)