Love Your Neighbors

My friend, Luther, ministers in a poor neighborhood in Kansas City. He often needs extra resources to help people and sometimes he tries to get them from government sources. He has a problem though in that frequently government officials want to fund a building, as if bricks and mortar were the primary solution to poverty and homelessness. What he sees though is that people need more than just money and a building. He has had homeless people build fires in the middle of an apartment because that is the only way they know to cook and keep warm. Luther's ministry runs a couple of recovery houses where people can live around others who care for and help them, because he loves his neighbors and wants them to experience love in very practical ways.

God commands everyone to love their neighbor, and when Jesus was asked who our neighbor was, he responds with the story of a Good Samaritan who cares for a man that had been beaten and robbed. Jesus shows us that to love our neighbor we need to love those people right in front of us who we have the opportunity and capacity to love. 

What this means is that everyone has a neighbor to love. We should start with our physical neighbors. I remember living in a city apartment building for a year and not knowing a single other person in my apartment complex. It was hard because we all went inside, closed our doors and only came out to go somewhere else. Often we do the same thing even in our small town. You also have neighbors at work, at school, and even when going out to events in the community. How are you caring for those that God has put right in front of you? Do you see them? Do you see their needs? If you cannot identity a neighbor that you are called to love then I suggest you pray and ask God to give you His eyes to identify the neighbors He want you to love.

To obey Jesus' command, we will have to be intentional and take the first step of smiling, saying hi, and even (I know this is radical in our smart phone age) start an in person conversation with our neighbors. We can show love in very practical and personal ways like helping someone with car trouble or who needs help lifting something heavy. We can listen and pray for them when we see their heart is heavy with sorrow. In many very practical ways, we can love the neighbors that God puts in front of us.

But if you are really ready to love your neighbors like Jesus did and like He calls us to do, then be prepared for sacrifice. Real love means surrendering yourself for the sake of the other. This will likely mean giving up resources, but what all people really need more than money or things is relationship. Ultimately, we need to point people to a relationship with Christ, but they often first see Christ's love in and through us. Are you willing to not only buy someone a meal but ask them over for a meal? Are you willing to watch the single neighbors child so they can have time to go shopping? Some of you might be in a position to have someone live with you for a time or even to foster or adopt a child. This means opening up your life to the messiness of other people's lives, but Jesus came into our messy lives and He thought we were worth it. Likewise, if you will learn to love your neighbors for His sake, you will find your life enriched even if your neighbors never give love back to you. You will grow closer to Christ as you love like Him and become more like Him.