Hey I am just like anyone else. I want to like my neighbors and I am sure my neighbors want to likeme. In fact...doesn't the Bible say that we should LOVE our neighbors? Well I am not sure Jesus was aware of the subdivision that I live in and the many "spies" that report small and trivial indiscretions with their yard etc.
Between the barking dogs and the fact that we only mow our grass every other week...well that good neighbor thing just sank. One day we found a photo of our yard on our neighborhood Facebook group. Yes that was a blessing! Someone wondered why our grass was so much higher than all the other people on our street. Well it took a team of wild horses and someone taking my phone away for me to NOT respond!
Are we a good neighbor? Probably not. Apparently we really need to get a muzzle for our dogs and we need to hire someone to come weekly to cut grass. Maybe then we can redeem ourselves! Have you ever felt like it was harder to be a Christian witness to people that live near you? Well you are not alone. It is difficult because little pressures and stressors that are trivial to real everyday problems get in the way. I think it is in how we deal with the criticism and the prodding. It can be very hard! There have been times that I could have reported someone or taken a picture of trash in their yard to be vindictive just like someone did to me....but then I have to remember that God called us to love people. (thank you holy spirit for reminding me!)
The Golden Rule can be found in Matthew 7:12. This famous quote by Jesus Christ actually begins in the verse 7, which says we can go to God for our needs and receive help from Him: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” The next few verses elaborate on this thought. Just as a caring human father gives good gifts to his children, so, too, God gives good things to those who ask Him (verses 9-11). Verse 12 then concludes the thought: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (emphasis added throughout). The word therefore connects the Golden Rule verse to the preceding assurances that we can ask God for help in our lives and receive it.
So the way that I look at this is that the way we treat others sets the standard of how we will be treated by God! So if I want God to give me mercy in my time of need then I need to GIVE mercy to others. Sometimes it does FEEL like the "bad" guys are getting away with everything under the sun and you just keep giving and giving. That is when we need to seek help from the Lord! Ask Him to change your attitude and see past the physical stuff and see the truly important and eternal spiritual aspect going on. Trust me...in time and with God's help you will start to be blind to other people's indiscretions...all you will see is a person that God loves and so in turn you will love. I am in process of this....but I haven't arrived yet! I still get an itch when someone parks on my lawn but God is helping me.
If you love God you have the overflow of love that will naturally pour out on others. Love does not seek itself but it looks out for the well being of others first. Being a loving and good neighbor might just mean that you stop your car and get out and pick up that trash in their yard or move their trashcan out of the road or baking cookies for your neighbor who you in fact know reported you to the HOA.
Going the extra mile and doing something for someone else is the best witness we can have. I can post scriptures all day long on my social media but if I am not taking care of the "trivial" things that are important to them; then maybe my neighbors will never see the important things that I really want them to see....that being....Christ that lives in me. :)
Adjust That Crown
Jonna
