Rooted in Love—For God, Others, and Place

 

November 13, 2025

Matthew 22:37, 39 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Jeremiah 29:7

“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you… Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 

Loving God is the beginning of all true love. The point being made is not just about affection, it has to do with alignment. You see, when we love God with heart, soul, and mind, we begin to see the world through the eyes of the Creator. We become attentive to beauty, brokenness, and possibility. Our worship becomes a way of life, and our neighborhoods become sacred ground.

As we see in the above verse, Jesus links the love of God with the love of neighbor. One flows into the other. To love others is to honor their dignity, listen deeply, and serve sacrificially. It’s not always easy especially when neighbors are different, and some may be difficult, or distant. But love is not just sentiment, or a thought or feeling; Biblical love is a commitment. The love of the Bible emphasizes choosing to show up, again and again, with grace.

Jeremiah’s counsel to the exiles in Babylon is unexpectantly compassionate, remember the people have been uprooted from their homeland, yet Jeremiah calls them to  “Seek the peace of the city” in which they now live. Do you see what is happening here? Even in foreign or flawed surroundings, God calls for planting gardens, building homes, raising families, and praying for the land. To love where you live is to invest in the community, understand its rhythms, and bless its people. It is viewing your street, your neighborhood, and your local park as a place of sanctuary and refuge.

Reflect on these questions below for a few moments today, 

What does loving God look like in your daily rhythms?

Who is a neighbor you’re being nudged to love more intentionally?
What’s one way you can bless your neighborhood this week?

Let's Pray

God of all places and people, help us to love You with all that we are. Let that love spill over into kindness for others and care for the communities we belong to. May we bring peace wherever we are, and may our prayers influence the spaces we live in. Amen.