Won't You Be My Neighbor?
By Cindy Goding
I had a great conversation with a friend last night about how knowing God and knowing God’s word should change our perspective. The more we dig into God’s word and understand it, the more we begin to understand the character of who God is and how we need to rest our identity in his perfect nature.
One part of the conversation that we had was on the passage where Jesus is asked by the Pharisees what the great commandment is.
“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets’”. -Matthew 22:37-40
We asked ourselves two simple questions:
- What if we began to look at our husbands, our kids, our loved ones- as our “closest neighbors”?
- How would that change our perspective of them?
If I truly looked at my husband as my closest and most important neighbor- how would that change my attitude towards him when I’m frustrated or upset? How would that change my patience towards him? How would that change my prayer life for him? How would that change my desire to come alongside him in his faith journey?
If I truly looked at my kids as my closest and most important neighbors- how would that change my desire to spend more time with them in God’s word? How would that change my outlook on the everyday tasks that need to be accomplished for them? How would that change my prayers for their teachers? Their friends? For them?
That was a humbling conversation to have. Because truthfully, I don’t often think of them that way. Someone said it best, “Do I feel deeply burdened by the heart condition of those around me or do I just feel burdened deeply by them?”
Because if I truly love God with all my heart, soul, and mind- then that love will also flow out of me and impact my closest “neighbors”. I am going to pray that God begins to challenge me to see them not as background scenery but instead as main characters. My husband and my family shouldn’t get my “leftovers”- they should get my best. They are my first and foremost priority and I am praying that my lens begins to change as I strive to humbly obey ALL of God’s commands.