Is “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” a Learnable Skill?
Is “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” a Learnable Skill? Richard K. Stephens - April 2, 2022 - (1832 words + notes) *** 1) THE GREAT QUESTION Let me pose what I regard as a fundamental question for Christians, one that determines how one proceeds in seeking learning and how one expects to a become transformed soul: Is what Jesus said is the second greatest commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” a learnable skill? [1] Another question logically follows. If this is indeed a learnable skill then is it necessary for the Christian to seek out and acquire that skill in order to take up his cross and follow Jesus’s lead -- Jesus’s commands? My own view is that the command “Love your neighbor as yourself,” is a directive to embody compassion. While not explicitly stated, it is presumed that one acquires that capacity -- effective, reliable embodiment of compassion -- through disciplined effort. The original disciples were given three and a half years of painstaking instruction by thei