Loving Your Neighbor
How can a person mess up the relationship one has with his/her neighbors? That’s easy. Have you ever considered who falls into this group of people? Have you ever given thought to how you can be a good neighbor? Have you ever thought of yourself as the neighbor of your neighbors? Everyday the majority fall at this most common relationship. Either you’re not a good neighbor or you don’t know what it takes to be a neighbor? At any rate, this relationship is the first level in relationships and it explains a lot when commonly we all stink at it.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” – bible.com/116/mrk.12.31.nlt
Prayer Condition:
Ordinary individuals give very little thought to loving their neighbor otherwise, Jesus would never have mentioned it. There are two reasons why? 1) Normal people can’t put a name to their neighbors. 2) The average person loves only themselves. Since this is the case, it takes help to succeed at relationship level one, the relationship one has with their neighbors.
The Prayer:
[Pray This]
Lord Jesus,
I think I missed the point You made in this simple yet important commandment. I’ve not thought about my neighbors because I’ve fallen prey to being like everyone else. You’ve asked us to be more. In that request, we must learn to succeed at the first level of relationships if we expect to be any good at the rest. Help me be mindful of who my neighbors are and give me ways to express Your greatest characteristic towards them, love. In Your name.
Your Action:
(What action based on your prayer can you take?)
Today I take a moment to take note of the people in my world, my neighbors. I make it a habit to treat them with love and respect as I would desire to be treated myself.
For more on this topic, see “Relationship Level One.“