WANT LASTING PEACE IN THE WORLD? If you want peace then your desire for Truth should
be equally great. Deception, lies, distortions of facts, and misrepresentations MUST be undone. All these
things fuel baseless hatred and keep societies away from the solutions to their problems....
"....LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF...." (
Lev. 19:18)
Though among the most 'loved' phrases in history, however proper and upright it sounds, it shall not by itself
bring peace to the world. Why? Because when this phrase is taken alone people understand the meaning
of the word 'LOVE' according to their own preconceived ideas - regardless of the validity of those ideas. The world
will get no where this way. Love according to one man may be Hate in the eyes of another. This phrase
had already been introduced to the world long before the Christian Scriptures recorded Jes'us as having stated it.
Additionally, it should be clear from the Christian Scriptures themselves that Jes'us was referring to teachings
already known. In fact, many Christian translations provide references for finding the source of this teaching
in the Torah (
Deut. 6:4-5; Leviticus 19:18). So....
Why has knowledge of this beautiful phrase for thousands of years not rid the world of its problems?
IGNORANCE. All this loving has nothing good so long as the phrase is understood apart from its intended
meaning. Misuse of this phrase stems from the fact that the majority of those who say it reject or are ignorant
of the context of its original meaning. Its original meaning: "Love your neighbor as yourself," in the context
of the Guidance (Torah) given by the Creator at Mt. Sinai, which is the context in which it the phrase was given.
17 "
You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you
must certainly rebuke your neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. 18
You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself: I am the TRANSCENDENT-ONE. 19 You shall keep My statutes..."
NOTICE: The world-famous phrase of love is immediately connected to a command to keep the statutes --
not just an individual one. The command to love one's neighbor as himself is meant to be understood as
both a summary and the goal of the Guidance to keep all of the commands -- not as a replacement for keeping the
other commands.. The power of loving one's neighbor as himself to bring peace to the world is dependent upon people's
knowledge and acceptance of its contextual meaning.
The problem of ignorance is shrinking in the world, faster than at any other era. Regarding acceptance
however, none can be forced. I imagine however, and hope, that most people, when they realize the value of
a thing, will quickly come to cherish it.
LIVE TO LEARN TO LIVE
World Peace depends on each individual, not a political deal. Each individual must take it upon himself
to become well informed of those issues that will influence his critical decisions in life, whether political, personal,
or religious; for there are MANY who are happy to use deception along with people's ignorance to turn opinions in favor
of their devious ways.
There will be no true and lasting peace until the world comes to know the TRUTH of things. The prophets
who spoke in His Name have said, "In that day the knowledge of the L-RD will cover the earth as the waters fill the sea." "No
man will any longer say to his neighbor, 'Know the L-RD,' for they will all know Me." The era of worldwide peace comes
with a removal of lies and worldwide ignorance. The Almighty's Guidance (
Torah) for mankind contains
the eternal instruction for all mankind on how to carry out their lives in a manner that will transform the world from
what it is today. This
Torah, sometimes called 'the Law' in Bible translations, was given to bring the
world to a peace which is BOTH an inner peace and an outward societal peace, established upon Truth. For this reason King
David says to the Almighty, "Your
Torah is Truth." (
Psalm 119:142)
The 'man from Nazerath' taught his students to worship in spirit and in truth (
John 4:23-24) while at the same time claiming that he did not come to abolish the
Torah (
Matth. 5:17-19) which is called truth in Psalms. Additionally, the Christian scriptures state that love rejoices in truth (
1 Corinth. 13:6). If this is the case, then true love can not contradict the
Torah, since it is also written in their
own Bible that the
Torah is Truth (
Psalm 119:142). This may sound heretical to the average Christian, but
their own writings testify:
"And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning:
that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment,
that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it." - 2 John 1:5-6 NKJV
Whatever religious perspective you identify with, strive for consistency - the halmark of
faithfulness. If you find what seems to be an inconsistency in your religion, it is your duty to find the
solution. Always be prepared that sometimes truth is what's least expected, and it isn't always first known with pleasure.
Remember: Truth IS biased...., against falsehood.
