"Love thy neighbour." This commandment known to every Christian, understandable at first glance, is not at all so simple. What are the manifestations of love for one's neighbor? What does it mean to love your neighbor?
Who can be called neighbor?
The Bible and the Church give an exhaustive answer to this question. The closest in the understanding of many people is family, relatives, friends and so on. But what does Orthodoxy say about this? The neighbor, the Orthodox Church claims, is any person who has met along the way and needs your help, attention, support.
What actions show love for one's neighbor? Which of us is ready to come to the aid of the first comer as if in front of him is a brother? These are very difficult questions. But try to get to the truth.
Is it possible to love everyone?
It is difficult to understand and accept that according to the plan of the Lord God, each of us is neither better nor worse than the other. And to love your neighbor is even more difficult. And yet it is possible. The proof of this is the life on earth of Jesus Christ, who did not shun either the leper, the harlot, or the robber. It was the Son of God who showed people that it is possible and not burdensome to fulfill the commandments of the Heavenly Father while living on our planet. Someone will say that it was easier for Jesus, since he is the Messiah. But what about monks, elders, saints who loved their neighbors and proved this by deed?
What actions show love for one's neighbor?
It seems that there is nothing easier than helping a neighbor's grandmother carry a bag or borrow a certain amount of money to a needy neighbor. Perhaps this is the very act? Perhaps love for one's neighbor consists in constantly caring for the eternal and temporary well-being of another? This does not mean that actions aimed at help will be necessarily pleasant. Everyone knows: useful is not always pleasant, and vice versa, what you like is sometimes harmful. There is a line in the Holy Scripture that states that everyone should please his neighbor, for the good, for edification. Based on this, in what acts is love for one's neighbor manifested? In those that are passed through the prism of respect, the desire to teach only the good, the righteous. You even need to punish children and make comments to people, but with love. It is easy to do good that is not associated with the sometimes unpleasant need for edification. And to punish or teach someone without negative emotions, keeping only love in the heart - this is the true manifestation of love for one's neighbor.
To the question of what acts show love for one's neighbor, answer definitely not. The main thing is that actions should be aimed at the benefit of man, and not to the detriment. Peace and goodness to you!