August 30, 2026 - How to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (Exodus 22:5-15)
Updated: Sep 4
How to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (Exodus 22:5-15)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard. 6 “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. 7 “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8 If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods. 9 “For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. 10 “If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, 11 then an oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. 12 But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13 If it is torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn. 14 “And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. 15 If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.
Introduction
There was an interesting story that I heard and there was a man that was the best at stealing and a woman who was best at pickpocketing, and they had a child. The mother gave birth in a hospital and the baby came out with his wrist clenched tightly. When they opened his hand, the baby was holding the nurse’s ring. Of course, this may be a nonfictional story but there is a moral to this story. Psalms 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” - When mankind is born into this world, they are born with sin. God knows this very well so through His word and law, God showed us a way. For children of God, we are so precious before God that He gave us His precious word. When the Israelites were freed from Egypt, they approached the wilderness. In the wilderness, God was thinking about how to help them live as children of God so that is why He gave this Biblical passage. Today’s Biblical passage may feel like it is speaking about the law and how to live obeying the law but if you look closer, it speaks about the love of God and how to love your neighbors. Today’s Biblical passage speaks about how to love your neighbors and how to please God. If you hold onto today’s sermon as your covenant then you can live a life of blessings and answers.
1. How to Love Your neighbor
(1) Give them the best things
Verses 5-6 - If you have livestock, a cow may wander off to your neighbor’s land and end up eating in their field. God is saying what happens when your livestock eats your neighbors’ food. If they end up doing that then compensate your neighbor by offering them the best of your field to them. If a fire breaks out and it ends up spreading to your neighbors’ property or field, and it damages their property and harvest then God said that we need to absolutely compensate them for that damage. This is because it harmed your neighbor. This compensation is speaking about compensating your neighbor to their heart’s content to make sure that they are satisfied with that restitution. God said that we must compensate them with the best of your field and vineyard. Make sure to compensate them without making them feel more angry but make sure to compensate them so that they are fully satisfied with that restitution. With what intent is God speaking about all of this?
Jesus also speaks about this in Matthew 5:40-41 “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” - Don’t only think about yourself but be considerate towards others as well. This means to love your neighbors with your whole heart. God is not only speaking to the Israelites but God is speaking to us. If we harm others by accident then we must be considerate to them and compensate for our full capability. Then through those situations, we are able to evangelize to them and share the gospel to them. We must take hold of this.
(2) Do not bear false witness against your neighbor
Verses 7-9 - Long time ago, there was no place where you could store your valuable goods and money like the bank or a safe. If someone is gone for a long time then they would leave their valuable goods in their homes but if the thief who stole their goods was caught then that thief would have to return the goods. But if that thief is not found then suspected people or people watching the valuable goods would need to clear their names before the judge. This is a very important method and process that God is telling us. We may be innocent but if we become suspicious then we need to make sure we follow the proper process and clear our names. Hold onto this. If the owner of the house sees something that they lost and finds that someone has a similar item that you lost then these two people need to both stand before the judge. But if that person was confirmed that they stole the item, then they need to compensate back double. But if the person’s item is actually their item and not the owner’s then the owner needs to compensate the neighbor double for the false accusation. This means that if they didn’t commit any sin and a person is accused of committing a sin that they didn’t commit then you need to fully compensate for causing harm, suffering, and scars to the person who was falsely accused. This happens very commonly these days. If the truth wasn’t fully revealed but people are falsely accused of something that they didn’t do then rumors spread. And, many people commit suicide due to their false accusations and rumors. That is why God is telling us not to falsely accuse anyone and that is grave sin before God. As children of God we must hold onto this as our covenant. God hates it when we accuse others falsely and spread rumors or gossip about others.
2. How to Love Others As Yourself
(1) Trust them in the Lord
Verses 10-13 - You were entrusted to take care of livestock of someone because you can’t take care all by yourself but the person who was taking care of the livestock and something happens to the entrusted livestock, a huge problem will arise. If no one witnessed what happened and what caused the harm to the livestock then that person needs to make an oath before the Lord God that they didn’t do any harm to the livestock. If they do this, then they don’t need to compensate the owner. They need to stand before the owner and a judge, and make an oath before God that they are innocent and caused no harm. Then, the owner has to believe that this person caused no harm by accident because they swore in the name of God. This is an important process seen here. If a person made an evil intent in their heart and were lying, and made an oath before God but God said to still trust that person and let that person go. Why is that? God is trying to show us the importance of faith and having faith towards your neighbors. Even though the owners are at a loss for this, God is telling them to still believe in your neighbors and God. What pleases God the most? When you believe others and your neighbors, and in the word of God. This is because they believe in the oath in the name of the Lord God. This is because God is the one true God and He is the ultimate judge. Even if you are at a loss and you still believe then God will fully compensate for you, and He will bring the correct judgment for your behalf. We need to know what pleases God the most.
Verses 12-13 - Let’s say you got your item stolen inside of your own home then the person who was entrusted with the item needs to repay double. This is because the person was entrusted with the owner’s items and you need to take responsibility for your lack of attention. However, let’s say an ox or a livestock gets attacked and eaten by a wild beast, then there is no need to compensate the owner. This is because this is out of the control of the person watching the livestock and nothing could’ve been helped to prevent this from happening.
The point here is and hold onto 1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” - No matter what happens, we must love and trust our church members, and your brothers and sisters in Christ. If society becomes like this, imagine how much blessings God will pour upon our society.
(2) Be considerate of one another
Verses 14-15 - If you borrow or rent something, and it gets damaged then what happens? You are able to borrow something from your neighbor because you don’t have enough money to buy it for yourself. And, let’s say the owner comes with you to deliver the borrowed item. However, if the owner was present when the borrowed item was damaged then there is no need for compensation. Also, if you were renting the item and the owner was present when the rented item was being rented, then there is also no need for compensation. The reason is because when you rent something out, you are also paying to rent something so there is no need for compensation. But the problem is when you rent or borrow something, and the owner is not present and an accident occurs. If a group of bandits show up and damage the borrowed or rented items then the borrowed person must compensate the owner out of negligence. The reason is because the owner was considerate to you and let you borrow something but if you took proper care of the borrowed item then no damage would’ve been done. But if you are careless with the borrowed item and you broke it, then that trust is broken. God hates it when trust is broken among people and with each other. You need to put in work to build mutual trust with people and with each other. If the consideration towards each other is broken, then trust is broken. Even now, this is a common problem. We must have consideration towards people and each other. You need to help others and make sure to be considerate towards others. This is what it means to love your neighbors.
3. The Bartizan of the LORD
(1) 300% Spiritual Preparation
Exodus 2:9 “Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him.” - Moses’ mother, Jochebed, gave the best spiritual preparation for Moses. From making the weave basket to timing the perfect time of the princess’ bath, Jochebed prepared everything; this is 300% spiritual preparation. At that perfect time, God allowed the princess of Egypt to take a bath when Moses came in the basket. In order to receive the perfect answer, you need to make perfect preparations. Hold onto today’s sermon as the word of God and receive answers today.
(2) 300% Future Field
Exodus 2:15 “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” - After God prepared Moses for 40 years, God sent him out to the wilderness and to Midian. God prepared everything during this time for Moses to be ready for the Exodus. God prepared Moses for the future.
(3) 300% Evangelism and Missions
Exodus 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” - God has prepared the plan even before creation for the life saving movement. God prepared to fulfill His perfect plan. May you receive answers today.
Conclusion
Matthew 22:39 “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” - All answers start from here. All answers come from evangelism and missions. The law of God in today’s Biblical passage was showing how we need to live our lives. May we receive our lifelong answers today.
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