I have lived in the same house on the same street for 12 years! When we moved in, we had two girls ages 1 and 3. We thought we were busy. 12 years later, we have an (almost) 15 year-old, 13 year-old, 8 year-old, and one wild little 3 year-old boy! We didn’t know busy 12 years ago!
In recent years, God began to burden my heart for my neighbors. He began to convict me for not having a relationship with the people who lived the closest to me. We always have events going on at our church. My husband teaches a class and I am the pianist. We tithe, support various ministries and missionaries, and volunteer our time where we can. We really do stay busy. But no matter how busy we are (even if it’s doing things that bring glory to God) we still have no excuse for not loving our neighbor.
I know that loving my neighbor doesn’t just mean loving the people living next door to me but wouldn’t that be a good place to start? Doesn’t it make sense that when we are seeking to obey God’s command of loving our neighbors, that we take time to make sure that our actual neighbors are loved? What does it do for my testimony if I stand up and talk about how I support children in foreign countries, I go to church every Sunday, I pray for those who are sick and hurting, but at the same time, I wouldn’t even recognize my next-door-neighbor if I passed her on the street? (True story by the way…) Neighbors are also those people we work with or near. Do you clock in, and clock out with hardly a word spoken to them? What is your relationship with them like?
I started thinking about how the neighbors that I’ve never taken time to get to know probably see me. Maybe they wouldn’t have anything bad to say about me…but would they have anything good to say about me? In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” How are my neighbors going to see the light of Jesus in me, if I don’t make time to be around them? Many of us spend a lot of time in prayer, asking God to reveal His will for our lives. We spend time asking God, “What do you want me to do?” In the areas of our lives where we are uncertain what we need to do, we should pray to God for guidance, and then do the things which He makes clear that is His will for our lives. One thing he makes clear is “Love your neighbor.”
But how do we love those around us that we aren’t very familiar with?
Pray. Pray for God to give you the desire to love your neighbor. It’s not always easy. It takes effort. Depending on your personality, just meeting and talking to your neighbors may be a struggle.
Pray for God to show you opportunities to help your neighbor. Delivering treats at holidays, writing a note of encouragement, stopping to talk and ask how they are doing…these are just a few ideas of how you can start to love your neighbor.
I believe the most important way that we can love our neighbor is to pray for them. If you live in a subdivision, walk through it and pray for the families living in each house. If you work, make a list of all the people you work with, and commit to praying for them each day. Everyone is going through something. Everyone has struggles. Pray for those you come in contact with regularly. You don’t have to know what they are going through because God does. But we are called to pray for each other. In James 5, verse 16, God commands us to pray for one another. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
It’s hard to think about yourself if you are focused on ways to help others. It’s hard to focus on worries in your life when you are focused on praying for chances to love those you meet each day. It’s hard to be self-absorbed and focused on wanting to buy yourself all of the latest and most sought-after items to keep up with the crowd when you are focused on the needs of those around you. God knows that if we are focused on loving our neighbor, it will help keep us pure in His sight.
We will see a transformation in our lives, our community, and the world when we start loving our neighbors as we have been called to do!
