Love Your NeighborSample

Sharing the Good News

Loving our neighbors is one of the most important things we can do. During Jesus’ time on earth, someone asked Him which of the commandments was greatest. Jesus narrowed the commandments down to two: Love God and love your neighbors. Loving our neighbors is so important, Jesus placed it right alongside loving the King and Creator of the entire universe.

But what does it actually look like to love our neighbors? How can we show them the same care Jesus showed people during His ministry? Those are the questions we’re going to consider during the seven days of this Bible Plan, as we dive into some of the opening chapters of the Book of Acts.

The Book of Acts comes right after the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It was written by Luke, the same man who wrote the Gospel of Luke, and it serves as a continuation of that story, detailing how the early church got its start after Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. For Christians in the early church, loving their neighbors was integral to their faith. Their experiences, as recorded in the Book of Acts, are rich with guidance for anyone who wants a better understanding of what loving neighbors is all about.

For today, we’ll start in Acts 2. This chapter details the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came and dwelled within believers gathered in Jerusalem. Before this point, Jesus’ disciples had mostly kept to themselves. But the Holy Spirit emboldened them to leave their homes and tell others about everything Jesus had done for them. People from all around the region—Parthians, Cappadocians, Egyptians, Libyans, and more—heard the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the love and salvation offered to each of them.

Sharing the good news of what Jesus has done for us is a key part of loving our neighbors. Sometimes we share the good news with our words, much like the disciples did in Acts 2. Other times, we share with our time, our care, and our willingness to listen. When we love our neighbors this way, we do our part to fulfill the Great Commission, the final instructions Jesus gave His disciples:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

Over the course of the next six days, we’ll take a look at more of what the Book of Acts can teach us about loving our neighbors.

Consider: How can you share the good news about Jesus with someone else this week?