Week 1 Attribute 1 - Love/Ahava And Kindess/Chesed

 

 Everymans Talmud[4] p. 212 II Brotherly Love
 
R. Akiba said of the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Lev xix 18), that it was 'a fundamental principle of the Torah'. His colleague, Ben Azzai, cited as a principle of still greater importance, 'This book of the generations of Adam.....in the likeness of God made He him.' (Gen v.1) (Sifra as loc.)  Universal love is here proclaimed not merely as the ideal advocated in the Torah but as the only true standard of human relationship.  While the first Rabbi referred to the explicit commandment, the second teacher based the ideal on the doctrine that all human beings are descended from one ancestor and are therefore bound together by the kinship of a common origin, and also that they share one inestimable privilege, viz. of having been created in the divine likeness.  'With a solemn warning was the declaration made, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself".  I (God) created him; and if you love him, I am faithful to repay you a good reward; but if you do not love him, I am the Judge to exact a penalty."
 
Another expression of the same idea is the following: "What message did the Torah bring to Israel?" Take upon  yourselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven, vie one with the other in the fear of God and practice loving deeds towards one another" (Sifre' Deut. 323;138b)
 

Mat 5:38 "You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.'
Mat 5:39 But I tell you not to stand up against someone who does you wrong. On the contrary, if someone hits you on the right cheek, let him hit you on the left cheek too!
Mat 5:40 If someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well!
Mat 5:41 And if a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it for two!
Mat 5:42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something from you, lend it to him.
Mat 5:43 "You have heard that our fathers were told, 'Love your neighbor - and hate your enemy.'
Mat 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Mat 5:45 Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike.
Mat 5:46 What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? Why, even tax-collectors do that!
Mat 5:47 And if you are friendly only to your friends, are you doing anything out of the ordinary? Even the Goyim do that!
Mat 5:48 Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.  Complete Jewish Bible
 
 
Probably the greatest challenge we face daily as Messianic Believers is to walk in love with others, especially those outside the household of God.   It is easy to love those who love you, but the challenge comes when we are told to love those who hate us.   But if we are going to be true followers of Messiah Yeshua, then this needs to be a priority in our lives.  So how do we love our enemies?  By praying for them that they will come to know Yeshua as their Savior and Master!  Praying that they will be delivered from their hate and be filled with His Love.
 
 

We need to walk in the footsteps of our Rabbi and Master Yeshua.

 

 Mat 10:24 "A talmid is not greater than his rabbi, a slave is not greater than his master.
Mat 10:25 It is enough for a talmid that he become like his rabbi, and a slave like his master. Now if people have called the head of the house Ba`al-Zibbul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! CJB

 

He was and still is the greatest Torah teacher that every lived because He Is The Livingn Torah and showed us how  how we should walk and live In Him.

 

 

Galatians 5:13-16
 
13  For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another.
14  For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. [Lev. 19:18].
15  But if you bite and devour one another [in partisan strife], be careful that you [and your whole fellowship] are not consumed by one another.
16    But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).[10]

 

 

Pray Psalm 23