John 13:34 English Standard Version (ESV)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
Luke 6:31 English Standard Version (ESV)
31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
I answered the knock and my door this morning and there stood our tearful neighbor boy, just 12 years old, asking if he could borrow my phone. He was afraid his cat had just died. I made a quick call to bring my husband home then handed the phone over to him, while I got my shoes. Then I followed him across the street and sat on his front steps while he went inside to get his cat. He brought him out, wrapped in a towel, and reverently laid him in my arms. So I held his cat, cooed and stroked its body, and closed its eyes for the boy. With him crying beside me, we waited for my husband and his grandmother to arrive.
Sometimes, loving your neighbor means you've got to hold his dead cat. As I write this, tears are coming to my own eyes, for the honor and privilege of being there for this boy. It truly is the greatest commandment.
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