The best way to love your neighbor AS yourself is to live in the presence of God. For to live in the presence of God is to live in the presence of love. As discussed in the article Love the LORD Your God, the most important way to love God is to join Jesus on His mission to reconcile mankind to God, our Creator. And we do that by taking Jesus’ yoke of service upon our shoulders and learning from Him how to love (or, take good care of) our neighbor AS ourselves. This article focuses on that subject and goes into more detail.
Jesus said that His sheep know that He is the good shepherd, and that they follow His voice. As a comparison, let’s look at a portion of Psalm 23, written by King David. Here’s how he felt about living in the presence of his shepherd.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
To begin with, most Bible publishers today substitute “LORD” (lord in all caps,) for the Hebrew YHWH. There are a few Bibles that more correctly render that as Yahweh, but most that don’t conform to Jewish superstition about pronouncing God’s name, render it as Jehovah. That’s probably what you are familiar with. But the important point here is that David was speaking about Jehovah, because that’s all he knew. So some Bibles, such as the Modern King James Version, read, “Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.” He knew that God always took good care of him, but he didn’t know that God had assigned His only-begotten Son to do that shepherding. He just knew that living in God’s presence was a good thing.
That’s why he wrote,
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He could have written, “He provides me with a relaxing environment, feeds me healthy food, and refreshes me by of His grace.” But that doesn’t flow very well in a song.
He next wrote, He leads me beside still waters. He might have written, “He shows me His waters of truth that eliminate confusion, consternation, and confrontation. He gives me truths that set me free and give me peace of heart.” But, again, David’s version flows better.
And then he writes He restores my soul. That’s shorter than “He comforts, heals and revitalizes me.”
David followed with He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Echoing David’s words about 1,000 years later, Jesus told His disciples that if they sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all their materials needs would be provided. And as a witness to the truth of what Jesus said, His disciples had that 23rd Psalm, written by a man they revered as anointed and Jesus’ ancestor. Jesus also said I am the way, the truth, and the life. As our Shepherd, He is the way, or path, of righteousness, as wells as the truth that sets us free from Satan’s lies; He is also the sacrificial lamb that opened the way to not just life, but everlasting life.
And did you notice that the reason the shepherd led David down paths of righteousness was for Jehovah’s name’s sake? This hallowing, or making holy God’s name, was so important to Jesus, that in His final public prayer, He twice mentioned (John 17:6 and 26) that He had revealed (by His actions,) and that He had made known God’s name to those willing to listen. Why? Because to know God is to know love, for God is love. (1 John 4:8) Prior to that, Jesus had taught His disciples to pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. That’s because God’s name represents His nature. And that nature is love. So, a paraphrase might read, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your love.
Now, we know why we need to live in the presence of our Shepherd – to be immersed in God’s nature. It is so that we can and learn to love (i.e. take good care of) our neighbors AS we love ourselves. For, it is by loving people that we love God, and that is how we hallow His name.
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