Neighborly Love

Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up…Romans 15:2.

When I was a child, we grew up in a small town!  Everyone knew everyone!

As children, we played with all of the children in our neighborhood!  During the summers, we often headed outside early in the morning…only coming in long enough to eat lunch and dinner!

Our days were filled with bike riding, playing in the park behind our home, swimming, softball and baseball games, climbing trees, games of Red Rover, Tag, Freeze Tag and numerous other outdoor activities!

When we got older, we begged our parents to let us stay out later so we could play flashlight tag with the neighborhood kids!  We would always ask…could we just play one more game…please!!!

Were our parents worried about our whereabouts?  No, because every parent in the neighborhood watched out for every child…not just their own!  You just didn’t have your parents watching you…every parent in the neighborhood was watching you!

So yes, this meant if you did something wrong…your parents would already know about it before you even got home, which really helped in keeping us out of mischief!!

It wasn’t just the children that got together for wonderful times of fun! 

Days and evenings were also filled with parents visiting as well!

You would often see parents sitting on the porches together, visiting and fellowshipping!

And when the parents went out for a stroll, they often didn’t get very far because they would stop and visit with all of their neighbors along the way!

Parents chatted in the bleachers at softball and baseball games!  It was a friendly atmosphere and neighbors were there to help each other!

If someone was building a new shed…half of the neighborhood men would show up…allowing the shed to be built in a relatively short time!

If someone were ill, their kitchen would quickly be filled with covered dishes and goodies to help their recovery time go more smoothly!

Neighbors were friendly…and really knew each other well!

I believe times have changed a little since my childhood!

Often, neighbors don’t really get to know each other as well today as they did in the past! 

Family lives have become extremely busy, and often you will only see your neighbor in passing…providing you and opportunity for a quick wave and short greeting to be exchanged between you and your neighbors!

Due to the busy schedules, children and parents may not spend as much time outside, providing less opportunity for you to visit with your neighbor on a warm, summer evening!

However, today I was pleasantly surprised!  As I was leaving my home to run errands, I found a gift bag left by my door as I opened it!

The bag was filled with a variety of baked goodies and treats!  The note attached to the bag said…”Happy New Year!  My mom made these treats and I thought I’d share…Enjoy!  Your neighbor…Laura”!!

I was so blessed to receive this sweet gift from my neighbor that I have not yet met!  Her gift of friendship and neighborly love was genuinely received with great joy!

God’s word says…”Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up…Romans 15:2”.

This sweet lady definitely blessed my day!!  I hope I can do the same for her in the near future!

Jesus was asked…”Of all of the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus responded…”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all our strength.  The second is this:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandments greater than these”…Mark 12:30-31.

One of God’s greatest commandments is to love your neighbor! 

I pray God will help me to be a Godly neighbor…reaching out in love to those who will be soon living near me!

I pray that the fond memories I have of my childhood neighborhood would not only be fond memories, but I would put into practice what I viewed as a child! 

Establishing relationships/friendships with my neighbors begins with me!  Just as my neighbor extended a warm greeting to me today through her gift…I need to be just as willing to extend warm greetings to my neighbors as well!  I need to extend neighborly kindness and love!

Have you met your neighbors?  Do you know them well?  If not, trying reach out to them!  You never know what great friendships may develop as you begin to love your neighbors as yourself!

Dear Heavenly Father…help us to obey the second commandment…to love our neighbors as ourselves!  Help us to make time in our busy schedules to reach out to those who live around us…really getting to know them!!  Help us to make time to build our neighbors up…providing an opportunity for relationships and friendships to be made with those who live in our neighborhoods!