LOVING NEIGHBORS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. 

A violent person entices their neighbor and leads them down a path that is not good.

The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

Proverbs 11:9, 16:29, 21:10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

My wife and I have lived in our Virginia Beach neighborhood for more than fourteen years now. We’ve stayed this long not just because we like the subdivision and the home itself but because we have great neighbors. It’s something we cherish and count as a blessing. Maybe you can relate.

What makes our neighbors so great?

I think it’s the sense of friendship we find in them. They are always stopping to chat if you’re outside and they are going for a stroll and if they are heading out in their car, they at least take the time to wave as they drive by. Often, they also lend a hand if needed, like take care of things like putting your trash bins out or collecting your mail or just watching your home in general when you have to go away.

Yes, we love our neighborhood and our neighbors for many reasons which also include the opportunity for us to be good neighbors to others as well.

But what if the opposite is true? What if you don’t have great neighbors? What if you are less than a good neighbor?

You might guess that God’s word addresses the matter of being a neighbor as it does everything else. Solomon had some things to say about bad neighbors. Look at these proverbs:

With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors, but through knowledge the righteous escape. Proverbs 11:9

The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them. Proverbs 21:10

Note the first connection we have with someone who is a bad neighbor. They are godless people and because of their godlessness, they crave sinful evil and wickedness which is doled out on those they come into contact with which includes their neighbors. No one who is void of God in their lives is living in His righteousness, a righteousness that always seeks to edify. Instead, the godless allow Satan and his encouragement toward sin to be their guide with the goal to unmercifully destroy every good and perfect thing God is trying to do.

So we learn from the words of Solomon that to be a bad neighbor is to be godless. This beckons the question, “What does it take to be a good neighbor?” As you may have guessed, we can find the answer if we go back into the scriptures which brings us guidance as to what to do and what not to do. First, what we should not do:

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17

“‘Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her.” Leviticus 18:20

“‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.” Leviticus 19:13a

You may recognize the first two verses from Exodus as part of God’s Ten Commandments given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai to pass onto the Israelites before they entered the land He had promised them. It was critical that they learned how to be good neighbors before they actually became that as they settled where God was ready to plant them. Deceitfulness, coveting, adultery, and theft were definitely key matters that the Lord wanted His people to turn from when it came to being good neighbors. There is a lot more He had to say about more precise matters, more than I can fit in this devotion and I invite you to take some time to delve further into what you are not to do if you are a neighbor to someone.

And maybe this is the right time to discuss who the Bible considers to be a neighbor. Look at these words of Jesus:

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:29-37

In what was a question and answer session between Jesus and a Sadducee, one of the Jewish religious leaders who was an expert in the law, we find Jesus teaching His audience, and us as well through His word, the broader context of who is our neighbor and how we are to treat others if we’re going to be considered a good neighbor.

First, who is our neighbor? Jesus took it much further than one might imagine and He did it through a parable. For the Samaritans were hated and despised by the Jews. In fact, a Jew wouldn’t want to be in their presence as they were seen as being unclean. And yet, as Jesus told His parable, it wasn’t the people you would have expected (the priest and Levite) who was the good neighbor and helped a fellow man in need. No, it was the Samaritan who saw a need to take action and did just that out of love, compassion, and mercy.

Through His teaching, Jesus showed us that the sphere of neighborly identification spans far outside of our immediate neighborhoods into the world around us and includes even the people we might not care for.

So how do you overcome your personal biases against others so you can be a good neighbor in a broader sense?

It all comes down to love. This was the second major point Jesus wanted to make after letting us know who our neighbors were.

We are commanded by our Lord and Savior, the One who we have our identity as Christians, to love our neighbors as ourselves. But before we can do that, we need to love God first with all our heart and mind and soul and strength.

It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

If we love God with everything we are, then He becomes everything we are. We are not our own but will fully belong to Him. His ways will be ours including how we love others. And as we become instruments of God’s love then the way we love our neighbors will be how we love ourselves – loving them as God loves.

Friends, when we do this, when we love our neighbors as God loves, then these words of the Apostle Paul will come true:

“Love does no harm to a neighbor.” Romans 13:10a

In other words, we will live in peace and harmony and fellowship all because we live in love.

This is my prayer for our world today. That we would all come to love the Lord our God with all that we are so that we might come to a place where all that we do is love our neighbors as He loves.

Won’t you be in prayer with me on this?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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