“Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great” (Luke 6:35).
The last perspective that might encourage you when ‘loving your neighbor’ is hard, is that God will reward you. People might not even notice what you are doing, or they might respond negatively. But God does see what you do, even ‘in secret’. And He doesn’t forget about it.
Just as God will bring every evil deed into judgment, as we read yesterday, so He will reward our good deeds. Not as a way to earn salvation — that’s only possible through faith in Jesus Christ, not by our own works. But being saved by grace alone should make us all the more motivated to honor God with our lives; and thus, to love our neighbor as well.
This can show in little things in daily life: “whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42).
Caring for others, even in small things, is an expression love. God values that.
How can you express love for people around you?