Loving Thy Neighbor

Ps. 23:5 (to :)
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

Lev. 19:13, 15-18
13¶ Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
15¶ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
16¶ Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord.
17¶ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
18¶ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

Prov. 25:18
18A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.


Zech. 8:17 let
17let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord.

James 2:1-10
1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Rom. 13:1-14
1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Matt. 5:33-4 ye
33ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
34But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
35Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
38¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

CHAPTER 61Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.


Mark 12:29-33 Hear
29Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Prov. 18:24
24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.


Prov. 17:17 (to ,)
17A friend loveth at all times,

Prov. 3:27, 28
27¶ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
28Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

Prov. 14:20, 21
20The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
21He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Prov. 24:28, 29
28Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive notwith thy lips.
29Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.


Luke 11:1-13
1And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3Give us day by day our daily bread.
4And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
5And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
11If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Eph. 4:1-32
1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
7But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20But ye have not so learned Christ;
21If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27Neither give place to the devil.
28Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.



SH 578:13-14 (to :)
    [Love] prepareth a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies:

SH 340:23-29
One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con-
stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the
Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates
pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in
social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes;
equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves
nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.

SH 249:8-9
Let us re-
joice that we are subject to the divine “powers that be.”

SH 435:19-23
    Watching beside the couch of pain in the exercise of a
love that “is the fulfilling of the law,” — doing “unto
others as ye would that they should do unto you,” — this
is no infringement of law, for no demand, human or divine,
renders it just to punish a man for acting justly.

SH 42:1
    Jesus’ life proved, divinely and scientifically, that God
is Love, whereas priest and rabbi affirmed God to be a
mighty potentate, who loves and hates. The Jewish the-
ology gave no hint of the unchanging love of God.


SH 30:14-3
    Rabbi and priest taught the Mosaic law, which said:
“An eye for an eye,” and “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood,
by man shall his blood be shed.” Not so did Jesus, the
new executor for God, present the divine law of Love,
which blesses even those that curse it.
Rebukes helpful
    As the individual ideal of Truth, Christ Jesus came to
rebuke rabbinical error and all sin, sickness, and death, --
to point out the way of Truth and Life. This
ideal was demonstrated throughout the whole
earthly career of Jesus, showing the difference between
the offspring of Soul and of material sense, of Truth and
of error.

    If we have triumphed sufficiently over the errors of
material sense to allow Soul to hold the control, we
shall loathe sin and rebuke it under every mask. Only
in this way can we bless our enemies, though they
may not so construe our words. We cannot choose for
ourselves, but must work out our salvation in the way
Jesus taught. In meekness and might, he was found
preaching the gospel to the poor. Pride and fear are unfit
to bear the standard of Truth, and God will never place
it in such hands.

SH 519:17-21
How shall we declare Him, till,
in the language of the apostle, “we all come in the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful-
ness of Christ”?


SH 8:22-21 (to 2nd .)
If we turn away from the poor, we are
not ready to receive the reward of Him who blesses
the poor. We confess to having a very wicked heart
and ask that it may be laid bare before us, but do
we not already know more of this heart than we are
willing to have our neighbor see?
Searching the heart
    We should examine ourselves and learn what is the
affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way
only can we learn what we honestly are. If a
friend informs us of a fault, do we listen pa-
tiently to the rebuke and credit what is said? Do we not
rather give thanks that we are “not as other men”?
During many years the author has been most grateful
for merited rebuke. The wrong lies in unmerited cen-
sure, — in the falsehood which does no one any good.
Summit of aspiration
    The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these
questions: Do we love our neighbor better because of
this asking? Do we pursue the old selfish-
ness, satisfied with having prayed for some-
thing better, though we give no evidence of the sin-
cerity of our requests by living consistently with our
prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness,
we shall regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless
them that curse us; but we shall never meet this great
duty simply by asking that it may be done. There is
a cross to be taken up before we can enjoy the fruition
of our hope and faith.
Practical religion
    Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”?
This command includes much, even the sur-
render of all merely material sensation, affec-
tion, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity.

SH 55:15
    Truth’s immortal idea is sweeping down the centuries,
gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My
weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall
recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as
himself, — when he shall realize God’s omnipotence and
the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done
and is doing for mankind. The promises will be ful-
filled. The time for the reappearing of the divine healing
is throughout all time; and whosoever layeth his earthly
all on the altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ’s
cup now, and is endued with the spirit and power of
Christian healing.

SH 560:10
True estimate of God’s messenger    Heaven represents harmony, and divine Science inter-
prets the Principle of heavenly harmony. The great
miracle, to human sense, is divine Love, and
the grand necessity of existence is to gain the
true idea of what constitutes the kingdom of
heaven in man. This goal is never reached while we
hate our neighbor or entertain a false estimate of any-
one whom God has appointed to voice His Word. Again,
without a correct sense of its highest visible idea, we can
never understand the divine Principle. The botanist must
know the genus and species of a plant in order to classify
it correctly. As it is with things, so is it with persons.

SH 88:18
    To love one’s neighbor as one’s self, is a divine idea;
but this idea can never be seen, felt, nor understood
through the physical senses. Excite the organ of ven-
eration or religious faith, and the individual manifests
profound adoration. Excite the opposite development,
and he blasphemes. These effects, however, do not pro-
ceed from Christianity, nor are they spiritual phenomena,
for both arise from mortal belief.

SH 467:1-13
Question. — What are the demands of the Science of
Soul?

Two chief commands
Answer. — The first demand of this Science is, “Thou
shalt have no other gods before me.” This me is Spirit.
Therefore the command means this: Thou shalt
have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no
truth, no love, but that which is spiritual. The second
is like unto it, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one
Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love.
Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact
becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-
hood of man will be established.

SH 205:22-3
Redemption from selfishness    When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law
of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded;
whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders
man’s normal drift towards the one Mind, one
God, and leads human thought into opposite channels
where selfishness reigns.

    Selfishness tips the beam of human existence towards
the side of error, not towards Truth. Denial of the one-
ness of Mind throws our weight into the scale, not of
Spirit, God, good, but of matter.

    When we fully understand our relation to the Divine,
we can have no other Mind but His, — no other Love,
wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no con-
sciousness of the existence of matter or error.

SH 234:12-16
We should love our enemies
and help them on the basis of the Golden
Rule; but avoid casting pearls before those who trample
them under foot, thereby robbing both themselves and
others.

SH 17:7 (only)
And Love is reflected in love;

SH 631:27-633:15
AFTER TWENTY YEARS’ SUFFERING
    From early girlhood I was considered an invalid, hav-
ing been injured by a hard fall while playing. The pain
was intense for some time and for several hours I was un-
able to walk or stand alone. Later, a growing weakness
of the back accompanied with sharp pains alarmed my
parents, who called a physician, and he pronounced it
spinal trouble. Then followed nearly twenty years of
increased suffering, at times very severe. As years went
by and I became a wife and mother, my suffering in-
creased. Everything that medical skill could do was
done, but finding no lasting benefit from anything, I lost
hope of recovery.

    When Christian Science found me I was under the
doctor’s sentence that if I lived the week through I would
become entirely helpless, not able to move hand or foot.
My husband was a travelling man, and being urgently
called home, he met an old friend on the train who asked
why we did not try Christian Science. The reply, We
know nothing of it, was followed by a brief explanation
of its healing power and the benefit his family had re-
ceived. This inspired my husband with new hope, and
on his arrival at home he called on a practitioner, who
recommended our getting Science and Health, which we
did, but ignorance and the prejudice of old education
produced such fear that I hid the book under the covers
of the bed whenever the children came into the room,
fearing that it was not of God and would injure them.
God’s dear love was, however, more potent than these
foolish fears, and the first day I read from its sacred pages
I was convinced its teachings were the same truths as
Jesus Christ had taught centuries ago. When I had read
a few pages, I reached out and threw my medicine from the
open window at the head of my bed. I then turned back to
the book and began reading again, when, lo, the Christ-idea
dawned upon me, and I was healed instantaneously.

    I first noticed the spot in my back cooling, and soon
I got out of bed. I continued to read eagerly; I felt as
if I wanted to devour the healing truth, and drank it in
as a thirsty plant does the gentle rain. When dinner was
prepared, I walked out and ate a hearty meal with the
family, to the amazement of all. We shall never forget
what a joyful meal this was. How we did thank God
for Christian Science!

    As year after year has gone by, till twenty years have
passed and the healing has remained perfect, I have
grown to thank God with deeper sincerity that one brave
woman was found pure enough to bring forth this Christ-
healing again, to remain forever among men and to save
suffering humanity from all disease and sin.  — Mrs.
P. L. H., Fairmont, Minn.



Hymns 179,208,180