What does loving your neighbor look like in this season?
Matthew 22:39 says, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
What if Jesus really meant that we are to love our actual neighbors? Sometimes we see Jesus saying this and we think “our neighbor” is some fictional person in the future to whom we can’t relate. However, I believe that Jesus was imagining his followers intentionally engaging in relationship with their neighbors and serving them.
You might bristle at the idea of loving a difficult neighbor. Maybe your neighbor has done things that you don’t like. Perhaps they have yelled at your children for playing on their lawn, or maybe they have been plain old grouchy and mean!
Does this mean you get a pass from Jesus on loving those kind of people?
We are still here on earth so that we will be a mirror reflection of Jesus to a watching world, including “those kind” of neighbors. Our primary mission in this life is to share the good news of Jesus with others by sharing the gospel, and our lives as well.
“… so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
One of the first ways you engage in loving your neighbors is to go on a treasure hunt to discover other believers who live on your block. You’ll need to creatively sleuth about to figure out who the Christians are, but if they are living out their faith actively, the Lord will make it obvious. Jesus is gracious to strategically position other disciples in your neighborhood to partner with you to love your neighbors well.
Prayers for the well-being of others are one of the ways we show our love.
After finding other Christians in your neighborhood, get together with them to pray for your neighbors and each other. Begin to network and determine who knows each other, and learn their names so you can begin to specifically pray for others and their individual needs.
When you know names and some specific things to pray for each neighbor, then you can use visual cues as reminders to pray. For instance, every time I see my neighbor’s truck drive by, I pray for his rice farming operations, for safety for his crew, and for his relationship with his preschool-age son. When I see my elderly neighbor slowly stop at the intersection in front of our house, I try to run out and ask her how she is doing and if she needs any help. Often, there is something to lift or move that becomes an opportunity to serve. The couple across the street have a dog who has a makeshift wheelchair after his back legs stopped working, and whenever I see that dog, I pray that his nerves would regenerate so that he won’t need the wheels to get around. He’s improved quite a bit over the last few months.
Going Deeper
After I have built a bit of relationship and trust with my neighbors, I ask their permission to pray with them in person. Usually I receive a positive response, but I have blown the opportunity a few times by being too zealous. Even so, it should be our goal to be courageous and loving enough to pray a short prayer for anyone in need.
Hospitality is a value of the Kingdom
Everyone practices hospitality differently. I trust that as people are desperate for social connection while the COVID days continue, that you will spend more time in your front yard, and you will see more opportunities to connect relationally with your neighbors.
I believe that Jesus is going to open up doors of favor and relationship for us as we reflect Jesus, and love our ACTUAL neighbors.
I invite you to join us this week for one of our Sunday morning service options.
- 9am: In-person OUTDOOR service on the Island. Please bring your own lawn chair.
- 11:00am: Livestream on our Neighborhood Church of Chico Facebook page and YouTube channel.
If you missed last Sunday’s message Kingdom Engagement Through the Posture of Prayer, click here to listen to the podcast or watch the video.
