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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

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Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

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Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

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Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after this short word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer to love your

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Speaker 1: difficult neighbor. A Prayer to Love your Difficult Neighbor, written

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Speaker 1: by Alicia Searle, read by Leah Gerard. Love the Lord

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Speaker 1: your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul,

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Speaker 1: and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

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Speaker 1: The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There

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Speaker 1: is no commandment greater than these Mark twelve thirty through

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Speaker 1: thirty one. Love is a powerful word that's often misunderstood,

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Speaker 1: yet it's the main theme woven throughout scripture. We see

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Speaker 1: the commandment to love God with all our heart, mind, soul,

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Speaker 1: and strength in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy sixty five.

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Speaker 1: We also see mentions of loving the Lord with all

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Speaker 1: that we have in the Gospels Matthew twenty two thirty nine,

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Speaker 1: Mark twelve thirty one, and Luke ten twenty seven. When

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Speaker 1: Jesus was asked by one of the scribes to share

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Speaker 1: the most powerful commandment, his answer was to love, love God,

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Speaker 1: love others. Sounds so simple, yet carrying this action out

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Speaker 1: requires a choice and comes with humble obedience. That's because

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Speaker 1: biblical love vastly Traddick's worldly love One Corinthians thirteen four

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Speaker 1: through seven states exactly how we're called to love as

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Speaker 1: faithful believers. We're to love in a way that embraces patience, kindness,

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Speaker 1: and honoring others, and exudes humility. Now, to be fair,

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Speaker 1: it's easy to love others, including our neighbors, in this

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Speaker 1: manner when they're friendly, welcoming, and polite. But what about

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Speaker 1: when they aren't so friendly? How do we choose to

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Speaker 1: love the grumpy man down the street who never cracks

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Speaker 1: a smile, or the neighbor who finds no problem in

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Speaker 1: blaring music till midnight. How do we truly love those

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Speaker 1: difficult people in our lives? Well, Jesus tells us to

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Speaker 1: love them as we love ourselves, perhaps realizing that we

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Speaker 1: are difficult to love at times. I don't know about you,

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Speaker 1: but that it's hard, perhaps because it prompts me to

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Speaker 1: engage in deep soul searching and inner reflection. In the end,

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Speaker 1: I usually realize that I'm not always one who chooses

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Speaker 1: to love myself uugh, And I'll humbly admit that there

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Speaker 1: are plenty of times that I'm not always so sincere

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Speaker 1: to others, and I probably appear pretty crumpy and unfriendly

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Speaker 1: Read Mark twelve thirty to thirty one. As a believer,

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Speaker 1: this is what Jesus is trying to convey in this verse.

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Speaker 1: We are to love God, ourselves and others. Love doesn't

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Speaker 1: come with stipulations or assumptions. It isn't wrapped in the

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Speaker 1: whirlwind of emotions or hasty judgments. It's also not based

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Speaker 1: on worldly standards that change and evolve over time. If

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Speaker 1: we can get the first commandment right and humbly submit

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Speaker 1: to the Lord and seek him with our whole heart, mind, soul,

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Speaker 1: and strength, his word will proclaim our identity and remind

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Speaker 1: us of our real true worth, which states in Psalm

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Speaker 1: one thirty nine fourteen, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Speaker 1: In Jeremiah one five, we are set apart. In John

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Speaker 1: three sixteen, we are so very loved. In Acts seventeen

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Speaker 1: twenty eight, we are God's chosen children. In first John

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Speaker 1: one nine, we are forgiven, and in tewod Corinthians five

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Speaker 1: seventeen we are a new creation. When we choose to

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Speaker 1: seek God, he reminds us of what true love is. Then,

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Speaker 1: and only then are we able to carry out the

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Speaker 1: second commandment, which is to love our neighbor, even the

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Speaker 1: most difficult ones, as ourselves. By loving God first, we

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Speaker 1: choose to see others the way He does, allowing us

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Speaker 1: to love ourselves. Then, in turn, we can truly love others.

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Speaker 1: Next time you find it hard to love your difficult neighbors,

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Speaker 1: start by getting in tune with God. Ask him to

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Speaker 1: revive the love he etched inside of you as he

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Speaker 1: intricately pieced you together in your mother's womb. Ask him

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Speaker 1: to help you honor and glorify Him with love that

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Speaker 1: allows you to see yourself and others through the lens

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Speaker 1: of mercy and grace, empathy and compassion, and love and acceptance.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray, Father God, I humbly come before you with

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Speaker 1: a heart that yearns to know the endless bounce of

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Speaker 1: your love. Grant me the ability to love you with

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Speaker 1: all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Through my actions,

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Speaker 1: words and deeds, remind me of the truth and promises

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Speaker 1: in your words that proclaim my identity. Allow those words

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Speaker 1: to ring true and run deep within my heart so

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Speaker 1: that I can love myself and others better. Align my

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Speaker 1: heart to your will and way, so that I may

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Speaker 1: choose to love others with a tender heart of kindness, compassion,

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Speaker 1: and sincerity. I ask this in Jesus's kneed. Amen. Your

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Speaker 1: Daily Prayer is a production of Life Audio and Salem Media.

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Speaker 1: If you liked what you heard today, be sure to

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Speaker 1: follow our sister show your nightly prayer. You can find

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Speaker 1: your nightly prayer at lifeaudio dot com or in your

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Speaker 1: favorite podcast app. By following your daily prayer and your

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Speaker 1: nightly prayer, you can be sure that your day begins

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Speaker 1: and ends centered on the Word of God and prayer