Once upon a time there was a man who was a devout Christian. He prayed to God regularly, he gave his tidings to the church and came to the service regularly, and around Christmas time he made big donation to charities. However, he had an evil neighbour. For years the two had many arguments and little battles.

One day the Lord spoke to him in a dream: “My beloved child, I see your good works and I want to grant you three wishes, however, whatever you wish me to do for you I will do for your neighbour, the one you hate, twice of it.”

The man thought for a while and made his first wish: “A big house!”

Zoom, there was his big house, however, his neighbour had a house twice the size.

The man made his second wish: “An expensive car!”

Zoom, there was his nice, fancy car, however, his neighbour had an even better car.

The man could hardly enjoy his fortune; it bothered him that his enemy had twice as much fortune. So he thought and finally said to the Lord: “Before I make my final wish, do you think I could still live comfortably if you took one of my kidneys?”

When Christ was asked about the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:34-46), he answered with a double quote from the scriptures. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”

The first part is for most believers the easier part it seems. To love God, yes, we can do that, we think. Especially when we are blessed with many blessings, when we are healthy, and well fed. It is not difficult to be thankful and to love God. Even in times of trial we might find the faith and strength to hold on to God and his promises and thus, still love him, or not?

Can we really do this easily? Do we really love God? Because if we love God with all aspects of our existence, wouldn’t that entail that we love and honour everything what God decided to do also?

If we love God, shouldn’t we love his creation with all its creatures as well? And if we love his creation, care for it and protect it, shouldn’t we then include in this creation the crown of creation, mankind, not just me but all those difficult to love individuals God decided to call into being.

The first part of the greatest commandment - “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” - thus cannot stand by itself. The second part is the only logical consequence, the implication of that commandment: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Our love to God becomes real in the love we show to our neighbour.

In 1 John 4:20 (NIV) we can read: “Whoever claims to love God, yet hates a brother or sister, is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

Martin Luther wrote about “Love your neighbour”:

“No one should think they fully understand this command: ‘Love your neighbour.’ Certainly this command is very short and very easy as far as the words are concerned. But where are the teachers and learners who actually practise this life? These words, ‘Serve one another humbly in love,’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself,’ are eternal words. No one can think about, urge, and practise them enough.

“It is remarkable that believers will immediately have troubled consciences if they fail to do something trivial. But these same people feel nothing at all when they neglect love and when their hearts aren’t sincere and affectionate toward their neighbour. Unfortunately, this happens every day. For they don’t regard God’s command to love as highly as their own superstitions…

“An important part of Christianity is love, and love is not self-seeking. Insisting on our own way is not loving our neighbour, but following our own desire. So not showing love is the same as being disobedient.

“…it’s the remarkable craft of the devil that he not only severely darkens our hearts and tears this superior object of our love from our hearts, but also persuades our hearts of the opposite opinion so that we think our neighbours are more deserving of bitter hatred than of love.“

There is no love for God if we neglect his most basic commandment, to love those God put to our left and right.

The good news is though, that real love is not conditional, but unconditional. Thus, the love God promises to us will not be denied just because we did not live up to it.

It may hurt God (and our neighbour) that we don’t love more, but God’s love is unaffected by it. Love is not a contract, but a covenant. The difference is that in a covenant each side promises to do something, even if the other side fails to deliver or is unable at times.

So this commandment actually is not just a request, it is a blessing in itself, because we are invited to live in a triangle of complete love: the three corners of this triangle are God, my neighbour and I. Even if we fail at times, “love will never end” or fail (1 Corinthians 13:8a).

The more people try to live by this commandment, the more love will be in the world. Love is contagious. Love creates an atmosphere of wellbeing and harmony. Love is the only way to the heart of another person, the only way to change that person to love as well.

I am not saying it is easy to love our neighbour. In actual fact it is difficult, especially when we don’t like that neighbour. Love is very different from like though. We usually like those who are in some respect “like” us. Those who look like us, think like us, have similar convictions like us, and so on.

It is easy to love those who are like us, as we like them. But to love means to accept or at least tolerate a person, to see the creator’s work even in that awful person, to overcome the differences that are between us, the unlikeness, and see the love that God holds for that being as well and that even our worst enemy is created in the likeness of God.

To love does not mean that we have to like that person or approve of what that person is doing. We can argue about his or her behaviour, discuss our differences, and hold them accountable, but they are still our brothers and sisters, our neighbour, and as hard as it may be, we are requested to love them, pray for them and help them when in need.

• Karsten Decker is an ordained Lutheran pastor and novelist from Germany who has lived and worked in Bermuda since 2001. At the moment he helps the Centenary Methodist Church at Collectors Hill as pulpit supply.