Loving your neighbor.

As she sat there I could not believe that words she was saying.

Maggie was telling me a story about a pastor’s daughter (I think) and about how she went from here to the US to go to school. She was telling me about this girl died and no one knew for a few weeks, before they smelt her rotting corpse. She proceeded to ask me about how we love our neighbor, in the US.

Ouch.

At first I was mortified, then embarrassed, then mad.

How could this happen?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Living here I am learning what it truly looks like to LOVE your neighbor, both the literal and figurative neighbor. Is it possible to live in a world where we don’t even know how neighbors? Sadly the answer is a resounding yes! In the past few days I have been seeing what it looks like to love the person next to you and the person across town.

Let’s break this down before we get too far ahead of ourselves.

What is love?

According to dictionary.com, Love is “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person”.

We have the most perfect example of love…Jesus.

So you are telling me I have to die for my neighbor…..

Well, yes. Well at least the willingness to do so.

That’s crazy.

That’s the point right? Jesus was pretty crazy, in a good way obviously! Jesus was the perfect example of love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Jesus is perfect, no we do not need to BE Jesus (I think He has that covered) but we do need to imitate Him. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children” Ephesians 5:1. He created us to worship Him, and that is the very least we should do.  We need to create space, where loving our neighbor is an instinct not a chore.

Jesus died so that we may have LIFE in Him. I mean. Do you really want to get to the end of your life and regretting not loving those around you more?

We live abundant lives in the US, but here in Masii, they UNDERSTAND that there is grace when the water doesn’t work and they can’t wash clothes for a week, the water is out in the whole town!! There is grace when you go to a function expecting to speak and end up being “replaced” by someone else, THAT’S LIFE! There is grace when the kids upstairs are jumping up and down and it sounds like an earthquake, THEY ARE KIDS and have been in school all day! There is grace when people decide to just show up at your house, THEY ARE MY NEIGHBORS!

Here is Masii, I have learned, or rather I AM LEARNING (in the process, it’s not over!), what it means to love someone. There is SO much need here; so many people go to sleep without eating (literally), its winter here and so many go to bed freezing, so many go to sleep feeling hopeless without Jesus, and many walk around wearing only one pair of clothes. My selfish mind thinks; if I did not have anything, I don’t think I could even think about my neighbor.

I have no idea if any of this is making sense.

But I DO know that somehow we, I, need to change the way I think about so many things. I need to learn to love the person next to me, whether they are physically or just emotionally next to me, or if I know them or not! It shouldn’t matter.

But once again, what does loving my neighbor look like? 

We have heard it our whole lives, "love your neighbor as yourself" "love your enemies and your neighbors". I have always thought, I know my next door neighbors, they are SO nice and I am nice to them. Did I ever stop and pray for them? Did I ever give them things they needed? Did I ever love them in a way the exemplified Christ? I think not.

What if we looked at our neighbors in light of desiring to see them in Heaven with us, or doing for them out of a heart of giving without expecting, or thinking about their needs before your own. What if we took what we have and gave it to our neighbor that was needy?

I am living in a place where EVERYONE gives out of the desire to see others LIVE rather than to give out of “hey-everyone-look-at-me-I-am-giving”, and giving out of abundance doesn’t count. Sorry. (Remember the widow with two copper coins? Mark 12:41-44 “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”)

Every week at church (MCC), I watch people give their offering (they do it differently, everyone walks to the front and puts it in a basket), I watch people give out of a desire to please the Lord with everything they have, sometimes it really IS all they have.

I have no idea if this is all making sense, I was talking about loving your neighbor and now about giving but it all goes together, I promise! What if we GAVE our NEIGHBORS what they need from what WE have so much of (EVERYTHING).

Jesus gave literally everything He had (himself), knowing full well that so many of the people He was dying for would deny Him, He rejoiced in knowing that so many would love Him! What if we did that? Expected nothing in return and gave all we were asked (by the Lord).

I wish I had a good closing statement but I don’t. (I am definitely a teacher, not a writer!)

But Jesus gave all so we could live, He gave all so we could live our lives abundantly and to the fullest, but I am pretty sure He wanted it to be about abundantly and fully loving others as we have been loved by Him. What if tomorrow you woke up, and spent all day thinking and loving others, rather than ourselves? 

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36

 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

We can make typography about it all day but if we don’t live it, then what ARE we doing?

(this post is a little harsh, I am so sorry!)

God is good even when we are not. Thankful for a loving Savior who has given me grace when I do not extend grace to other, as they deserve (deserve, not because of anything they do but because JESUS LOVES THEM. simple)