Article January 14, 1985 Issue

"If ye fulfil the royal law..."

KATHRYN PAULSON GROUNDS

Many of Christ Jesus' instructions are difficult for humanity to accept, much less practice, and few are more so than the explicit directive pointed out in Mark's Gospel: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."^{ Mark 12:31.}

A neighbor is not only one who is geographically close. In a fuller sense, he is any fellow being for whom one can do good, whether friend, tradesman, relative, business associate, or fellow church member.

From the human standpoint, loving our neighbor means maintaining a more charitable outlook, searching for and cherishing indications of repentance and reformation, always respecting what is noble, even in its incipient stages. This is the brotherly affection that aids in the restoration of harmony to troubled relationships, because through it we offer to others only what would be welcome to ourselves.

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