Neighbors - Ya gotta love 'em!
This is a Five Minute Friday Post - FMF is a website for writers, we write on the word of the week for five minutes and post without editing. It's good practice!The word this week is Neighbor
Proverbs 3:27-28
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in you power to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and com back, and tomorrow I will give it," when you have it with you.
29 Do not devise harm against your neighbor, while he lives securely beside you.
We do have to love them, but I confess that I'm not always successful. Oh, it isn't that I intentionally devise harm against them, but I don't intentionally love them either. My husband, doesn't know it, but he is the complete opposite. He seeks to help them, to love them. He is intentional about it.
This morning in my devotional time I read this passage from Proverbs, then I found Neighbor as the word week. God works that way, giving me what I need when I need it. Verse 27 says "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in you power to do it." Aren't we called, then, to love our neighbors intentionally? He doesn't withhold His love from us, nor should we from our others.
So, how do I do that? Well, it's got to be more than sharing the passing wave as I come and go from work. I'm going to rely on God to, again, provide what I need. What I should notice and to what He wants me to pay attention.
Today I will seek to be intentional, to model Jesus and the husband God gave me for life. I will seek to love my neighbors.
That's my five minutes this week.
You can find FMF here - http://fiveminutefriday.com/community/
I think for many of us loving our neighbour is not something that comes naturally but something we have to be intentional about. I like the Bible verse that you highlight and the call to do the good that is in our power. Sometimes others' needs can feel overwhelming but we all have the power to do something.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, Lesley, and for your positive comment.
ReplyDeleteGreat post...and I have the feeling that when we have a hard time loving a neighbour, it's really that we're having a hard time loving an aspect of ourselves that we see mirrored in another.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the blog title, "Concrete Dove"; my doctorate and postgrad work was in the response of reinforced concrete structures to earthquakes. A lot of large-scale testing (build big things and BREAK them, every ten-year-old's dream). Concrete's in my blood (and lungs and liver, and...).
#1 at FMF this week.
https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/08/your-dying-spouse-357-fine-sense-of.html
That's interesting to know. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteYes! Absolutely. Intentional. If we focus on each individual as we move throughout our day and ask God what they need, I believe He will tell us. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting.
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