Loving thy neighbor

Ok so the title of my blog......
I picked the title because it is one of the things the Bible calls us to do,and it is an area of struggle for me.

And it is referenced several times in the Bible. This will be a series of blogs on these verses as each verse has something different to learn from.
HINT*** We must need to be reminded of it.

The first is in Leviticus 19:18- Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Ok.... well.... I am off to a bad start. Do not seek revenge the 1st sentence and is my 1st reaction most of the time.
Why?
I think it is part of the human/sin nature that we were born with.  
Revenge make us feel like we are doing something or that we actually have some kind of control.
But where does that come from?
It comes from the place where satan said "Surely you will not die" to Eve.
Control satan wanted it and so do we.
Relinquishing control is what we need to do.

Now the 2nd part of the grudge. I do it too!
I love the analogy (I think it is Max Lacado?), where he talks about carrying rocks as your grudges and burdens. And you are traveling up a hill and all these rocks are weighing you down. And you go slower and slower never really getting to your goal.
But the crazy part of this is we tend to help other people carry their rocks too. So we are totally bogged down with our stuff and others peoples stuff too. WOW!

Jesus had a few rocks.... Judas being one. What did he do about it? He was praying when he showed up to turn him over to the authorities.

What an example for me. I need to be hitting my knees when I know these rocks are what is weighing me down.

The last sentence gives me the most comfort in dealing with these grudges and revenge.
 I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.
So I need to quit struggling and striving with them and give them to HIM!
In that last sentence He told me! 
I HAVE GOT THIS COVERED!
AMEN!