Be A Good Neighbor

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/24q5kv

Have you been a good neighbor lately? Have you taken the time to do something “neighborly”? Has someone shown themselves to be a good neighbor to you lately?

It is so refreshing to be the beneficiary of a good deed. And it is even more satisfying to be the one doing the good deed.

Have you noticed some of the good deeds that neighbors are doing all around us?

· Picking up the newspapers and mail for friends on vacation.

· Stopping to chat while walking around the neighborhood.

· Bringing food for someone who is ill.

· Borrowing a tool or a cup of sugar

· Lending a sympathetic ear for a while.

· Going out of the way to return a lost item.

· Leaving an extra bag of squash on the back porch.

· Drivers waving to one another when meeting on a city street.

Although seemingly insignificant in and of themselves, all of these and many other examples point to a genuine sense of respect and appreciation for one another. True, in some areas one may not find this type of neighborly action between every neighbor. But as a rule, I believe that most people would enjoy having and being neighbors like these. It is just the right thing to do!

The Bible speaks highly of the place of neighbors. In fact, our treatment of neighbors is of principle concern to God. After a scribe asked Jesus about the greatest commandment, Jesus replied in Mark 12:30-31, “…‘you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The scribe replied that “…to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark 12:33.

It isn’t always easy to love our neighbors. From time to time stories appear in the news about feuds that erupted due to neighbors having a dispute over something.

But as we follow the direction that God provides, we become different from others. We become more likeable, even more loveable. After all, if we are to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, lend to those who ask of you and love even your enemies (Matt. 5:38-44) then who wouldn’t want to be our friends?

Paul said to the Romans that “…if there is any other commandment, all are summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Rom. 13:9b-10. And to the Galatians he said, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Gal. 5:14.

To be a good neighbor is not just a noble goal to attain, but it is also what God wants us to be. These passages help us to understand how much importance God places on our actions toward our neighbors.

By showing our love toward our neighbors we also show our love and commitment to God and to Jesus. So, keep up the good work and be on the look out for new opportunities to show yourself to be a good neighbor.

In Our Daily Walk today may we take the time today to seek out our neighbors and thank them for being our friends. And if we don’t know our neighbor, what better time is there than now to go and introduce yourself and begin a long friendship. Being a good neighbor is God’s standard of what we should be.

Our thought for the day: “There’s an ideal height for a backyard fence: just high enough to keep the dogs out but low enough to shake hands over.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.