Loving your neighbor this Christmas
I’m finding it difficult to love my neighbor, as I should, when I’m unable to recognize her at Wal-Mart. I really love living in my neighborhood, but it’s filled with well-kept yards, beautiful Christmas lights, and closed doors. Just like many of yours.
Today we are an isolated society. We have air conditioning, TV, and the Internet; so we stay indoors. If we’re lucky, we learn the schedule of our neighbors’ cars hustling and bustling to and fro, memorizing their profiles and driving styles but not knowing anything more significant than that.
We’ve quit needing our neighbors. No one borrows a cup of sugar because, first of all, we don’t know our neighbors well enough to ask, and secondly, because we don’t need the sugar. As a culture, we don’t cook much anymore; much less bake something from scratch. We don’t even see each other in the yard. Instead, we identify the particular yard crew hired to cut, clear, rake, and plant those nicely manicured lawns – but the neighbor remains unseen.
How can we be a Light to those in our midst if we live lives in such isolation? How can I encourage world missions if I won’t do the work to build relationships with the mission field I live in? My excuses: TIME…and a sense that it’s just me…
These are real restraints in sharing Light in a world of darkness --- but let it not stop us. Let us live differently.
The first thing we should do, whatever the living situation, is pray. Prayer-walk the neighborhood. Pay attention to the details you can observe as you walk by. Pray to yourself, or if you’re bold enough, out loud, for each home and family as you pass by. Even the kids can do this. It’s a great first step.
Secondly, we need to find ways to get to know them. This is where our family is. We have lived in our neighborhood for about a year and have prayer-walked periodically this year. A few days ago, we hand-delivered invitations to a neighborhood Christmas party we are hosting this weekend. The response has been exactly what I expected: positive – with a genuine appreciation for the invitation and a felt desire to come. For, like me, they live in isolation among all the other houses nestled in our piece of the world.
I’m not expecting to see a great turn out…THIS year. But this is the beginning. There will be more prayer-walking in 2011 – this time, with real names, real faces, and a few details to pray over specifically.
I will host a block party in the summer. We will repeat the Christmas party in 2011, and then over time…there will be the invitation to get together for a ladies Bible study. You see, I’ve seen God transform lives through neighborhood living. People have come back to church, they’ve started reading their Bible on a regular basis and become involved in women’s groups. They’ve found hope instead of despair in the midst of tragedy, and children have come to know the Lord. I know what God can do…if I will simply go across the street…
You may not want to host a party like me. But could you pray? Could you invite the neighbor over for coffee? Could you volunteer to help out if they need to be gone? Whatever works for you… Take those first steps toward loving your neighbors by getting acquainted with them and praying for them. We will not be disappointed with what God does within our restraints of time and singleness. We just have to walk across the street.
Written on Tuesday, 14 December 2010 12:50 by Cheri Strange
Viewed 378 times so far.
