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Who Is My Neighbor?

 


"When Jesus said 'Love your neighbor', He knew
your neighbor would act, look, believe and love 
differently than you.  It's kinda the whole point."
~ Toby Mac, Christian artist

Ever have a day?  Like, I mean,  A. DAY.  Somebody slammed on their brakes and my beautifully engineered ever-so-safe car slammed on its' brakes automatically and my pot of soup I was taking to someone went flying off the front seat and all over my car.  Of course it was the best vegetable soup I'd ever made too.  Argh.


Isn't that just the way it goes? Our best efforts get sabotaged, or at least our attitudes and joy do.  Sometimes our intentions are so noble, and yet it goes so badly.  I kind of look at that as Satan just trying to kill my joy and get me to grow weary of doing good.  Not today, Satan.  

"Let us not become weary of doing what is good.  At just the right
time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we do not give up." Gal 6:9

As we enter the holiday season, there are sooooo many opportunities to do good.  I have recently been the recipient of some very thoughtful people and it really made me feel valued.  It spurs me on to that kind of neighborly action because it meant so much to me.

I think that's part of what Jesus meant when He said to love your neighbor in Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39.

There's so many ways to love my neighbor, especially this time of year.  

  • Making big batches of cookies or loaves of quick bread and splitting them up into smaller bags takes very little effort.  You can keep them in the freezer.
  • Adding a few of those specialties to your car bags for homeless people can really spread holiday joy.  
  • Have a card-making or card-sending gathering with kids or grandkids.  If crafts aren't your thing, pre-buy some at the dollar store - they're really cheap.
  • have a little basket of small dollar item gifts as a backup to take to people's houses or for those guests that just drop by

Then there's the every-day interactions that just place others first- little things like holding doors, letting people in your lane, letting someone have a closer parking spot, texting someone to just say hi or check in on them.


Those are the easy ones.  What about the not-so-easy ones?  What if we ask God to lead us to someone who may be challenging for us to love on as neighbors and see if His light can shine through us to brighten their day a little?



It's not about us, it's about them.  And it's not about whether or not they respond, or how they respond.  We only have control over our actions and our obedience.  

Going about our day with a mentality of Philippians 2 creates so many opportunities for us to love our neighbor, regardless of whether we are loved back or not.

It cultivates in us a heart of gratitude for what Jesus did for us all year round, not just Thanksgiving.  What ways can we love our neighbor?  Happy Thanksgiving week 🦃

Dear Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for You-that You would even think of us, let alone send Your only Son to die for each of our sins.  Please renew our hearts and minds this week and help us to see all the opportunities You place in our way to love our neighbors, out of gratitude for how much You love us.  Amen.

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