November 3, 2019

We all love others. As Christians we know it’s our call to love our neighbor as ourselves. And all of us do so, one way or another. But James’ concern here isn’t that we might not be loving others, his concern is with the selection of who we choose to love. We tend to be selective with our love. We don’t love all of our neighbors as ourselves. We love select neighbors as ourselves. But in light of the gospel, under the law of liberty, God has a better way.

Application Questions

1. Who can you point to as examples of people you are striving to “love as yourself”?
2. In what ways might you be loving these people selectively, and conveniently avoiding loving others?
3. Do you tend to think of this kind of “selective love” as sin? If not, why not?
4. How does the gospel and the “law of liberty” motivate you to love others and show mercy without partiality?