The Bible is full of teachings about how we are to love our neighbors. Yet not all biblical teachings about loving the neighbor are clear. Nor are they always easy to apply to our contemporary lives. Every teaching requires careful reading, close study, and compassionate understanding of different perspectives as we read God’s word in conversation with other Christians.
How Christians read the Bible matters as much as why we read the Bible.
How can we read the Bible in a loving way? Reading with love searches the Bible for God’s guidance toward the well-being of all creation. It means interpreting each text for the love and care of the neighbor. Patiently, with kindness and hope, a loving reading of God’s Word means asking how we can best live a responsible life on behalf of all our neighbors in need.
This message is excerpted from “Reading the Bible for Love” by Laurie A. Jungling in the April 2018 Gather magazine. Today is the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany.
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