"You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15). That's the way God would like for us to live. Not only do we refrain from stealing, we also help our neighbor take care of his property and share with him from our own when he is in need.

That's not the way the world would have us live. In business, the rule has always been, "Let the buyer beware." It is very common for salespeople to give people the wrong change, use a scale that has been tampered with to show the wrong weight, and in other ways to cheat customers. We read reports in the newspaper of examiners taking bribes to change the grades of students on board exams and college entrance tests. Graft and corruption have become so common in politics that the honest government servant has a terribly hard time proving his good reputation. In almost every area of our lives, we can see God's law being broken. Theft, cheating, and graft happen all the time, in big ways and in small, so we are tempted to live as our neighbors live. The temptation is strong to copy another student's answer on a test, to take home a few pieces of paper or a few pencils from the office where we work, to follow the example set for us by those around us.

Yet our New Life in Christ sets us free to live a different kind of life. St. Paul does a good job of describing that newness in Colossians 3:12-17. Read those verses and think about the kind of New Life Paul describes there. He calls for us to have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. If we have those feelings toward our neighbor, then we respect him, his good name, his life and his property. He calls us to helpfulness, forgiveness and love. As we develop those attitudes, we learn what it is really like to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But most important of all is the advice he gives in verse 17.

According to St. Paul, what should guide all of our actions?  

Can we cheat our neighbor, steal his property or be involved in graft or corruption in Jesus' name? Can we remember His love for us, and give thanks for that love to God our Father, and at the same time live as the world would have us live? No!

Thank you for working so hard on this lesson. We hope it has helped you to understand how we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

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