How To NeighborSample

The Second Is Like the Other

Today we’re going to talk theology. Tomorrow we’ll get super practical, but first let’s try a quick experiment. Take a deep breath and pause for at least 30 seconds to ask the Holy Spirit about your life mission. Okay, hopefully you heard, felt, or somehow sensed something. Congratulations, you just used your physical body to invite God to speak to your soul.

But, honestly, half a minute probably isn’t long enough to download your life’s mission! If you’re having relational issues, maybe your thoughts went there instead. If you don’t spend a ton of time with the Holy Spirit, you might’ve been physically uncomfortable. Maybe you haven’t been sleeping well. We all know that can get our whole being out of sorts. It’s all tied together, isn’t it? Your body and your soul.

How does the body and soul principle apply to neighboring others? Pretend you’re the religious person who asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Because we are—we did just ask the Holy Spirit about our mission. Now, look at this paraphrased conversation based on how Jesus describes the two greatest commands throughout the Gospels.

Us: What’s my mission?
Jesus: To love God with all your body and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Us: Whoa there Jesus. I get the first part, but who’s my neighbor?
Jesus: I don’t think you get the first part. The second is like the first. Here’s a story about how to neighbor.

Jesus put an important connector between loving God and loving people, between body and soul. In Matthew 22:39 and Mark 12:31, Jesus transitions from the first commandment to the second by telling us the second is like it. Like what? Like the first. The Greek word used for is like comes from the root word homou, which means together. The full word used is homoios, a word Jesus used often in parables to compare things that were uniquely similar. In just a few of His stories, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven: is like treasure hidden in a field, is like a net cast into a sea, and is like a mustard seed. Jesus was essentially saying, “These two commandments are like family. They go together like water and ocean, like wind and air, like body and soul.”

Now, think back to the second part of our mission. Love your neighbor as yourself. Why is this like loving God with all your body and soul? We know they go together because Jesus said so, but how? Let’s use a uniquely similar Samaritan story to make the connection. The Samaritan woman from John 4 came to the well with a thirst in her body for water, but Jesus saw a soul thirst she had been trying to fill with numerous men. Jesus understood thirst. He was there in the garden when God breathed it into humanity. Thirst is God’s way of keeping us alive. Without physical thirst, our body dies. Without spiritual thirst, our soul dies. Like the woman at the well, like Adam and Eve in the garden, and like us in our 30-second exercise, people are prone to get physical and spiritual thirsts confused. So, when Jesus was telling us the two most important commandments, He told us one is like—but not the same as—the other. Kind of how body is like soul. Like the two greatest commandments, they’re different but similar, and they work together. This is why Jesus offered a cold cup of water to the physical and spiritual thirsts of His neighbors, and it’s why we should too.

We go big on help for body and soul. Why? Because Jesus commanded and demonstrated that this is how to neighbor. Tomorrow, we’ll hear more from Pastor Craig, watch a real-life story, and talk about super practical ways to live this first principle out.

Today’s step: Spend a few more quiet minutes with the Holy Spirit. Allow your body and soul to work together, and ask Him to continue revealing your mission.