Loving my neighbor
The other day, I headed out with the group to do grocery ministry. After filling bags at the market, we headed to the outskirts of town in search of a home. We turned down this side road and stopped at a small, partially finished house. We asked if we could enter and visit with the man standing in the yard. He agreed and invited us inside his humble abode. The conversation that proceeded has stuck with me over the past few days.
Not even a few minutes into talking, the man totally breaks down crying and pouring his heart out. He's struggling to really get back on his feet. He's been discouraged by the church and feels so alone. I was reminded that God calls us to love our neighbors, explaining that I believed he was my neighbor, whom I should love. We weren't called to be life alone, we were meant to be in relationships.
Over the past days, my hearts been constantly trying to remember to love my neighbors. My neighbors aren't the people in the house next to me, they are everyone I come into contact with. I feel like my heart has been trying to consciously be intentional with loving them. Loving my neighbor isn't always easy or convenient. It means actually doing life with people in a real and meaningful way. I know that while my heart has felt such a burden, a calling, to just love these people; it has also been so full of joy for those same reasons. I love that some of my neighbors are 50 girls in an orphanage who are so much fun to be around and desire the simplest forms of love.
Not even a few minutes into talking, the man totally breaks down crying and pouring his heart out. He's struggling to really get back on his feet. He's been discouraged by the church and feels so alone. I was reminded that God calls us to love our neighbors, explaining that I believed he was my neighbor, whom I should love. We weren't called to be life alone, we were meant to be in relationships.
Over the past days, my hearts been constantly trying to remember to love my neighbors. My neighbors aren't the people in the house next to me, they are everyone I come into contact with. I feel like my heart has been trying to consciously be intentional with loving them. Loving my neighbor isn't always easy or convenient. It means actually doing life with people in a real and meaningful way. I know that while my heart has felt such a burden, a calling, to just love these people; it has also been so full of joy for those same reasons. I love that some of my neighbors are 50 girls in an orphanage who are so much fun to be around and desire the simplest forms of love.
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