Last Fall Reconciling Ministries network held a series of Love Your Neighbor trainings. During that training they distributed a list of helpful Bible verses as a quick-reference to remind us we are called to love all God’s people; to not judge, but rather trust God; to remember the word of God changes hearts; and our Wesleyan and Protestant traditions call us to side with God’s people.

It’s a heartening list, especially for those days when we’ve heard the Bible used to justify hatred and condemnation one too many times—the days when discouragement is setting in. It’s a list worth sharing. It’s also a long list; I decided to post it one section at a time.

So here it is, the Bible, calling Christians to love God’s people—all God’s people:

• The love of Jesus Christ is for all (John 3:16).
• Our call is to love our neighbor (Luke 10:27).
• Jesus talked to and taught women (Luke 10:38-42, John 4:1-41).
• Jesus ministered to his enemy—the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13, John 4:46-54).
• Jesus ate with tax collectors (Matthew 9:10-13).
• Jesus ministers to his critics—the Pharisee whose daughter was dying (Mark 5:21-24,35-43).
• Jesus says he has other sheep that we don’t know about (John 10:16).
• God says that if we love God and neighbor we are God’s people (John 13:35, 1 John 2:9-10).
• Everyone will know that you are my disciplines, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).
• The unity of the Church comes from God (Ephesians 2:13-18).
• Unity is based on faith and love of neighbor with all our differences (1 Corinthians 12:12-26).

Next post: Bible verses calling Christians to not judge, but rather trust God.

Image credit: The Gutenberg Bible [Bible, Latin Vulgate. Ca. 1455]. Biblia Latina. [Mainz: Johann Gutenberg, ca. 1455]. Rare Books Division. From the Lenox Library. Originally posted to Flickr as Gutenberg Bible by NYC Wanderer (Kevin Eng) via Wikimedia Commons.