Loving our neighbor is not easy, but it is something we are called to do. To be Neighbor Loving means having the courage to tangibly love people in our city where they are at and seeing them the way Jesus sees them. It means stepping outside of our comfort zone and building relationships with those that are nothing like us. It is looking at people and their challenges in life and realizing that you’re looking in a mirror, because without Jesus in our lives, we are just like our neighbor. Sometimes it means opening your home and developing long term relationships that may lead to conversations about Jesus. It means praying for our neighbors, serving our neighbors, spending time with our neighbors.
Neighbor Loving also means loving and caring about the needs of each other well. We cannot shine as a “City on a Hill” unless we also love and serve each other, encouraging each other as we go out into our neighborhoods, building relationships and spreading the good news of the Gospel. We have been given a command to “Love your Neighbor as yourself” from Jesus, maybe we need to think of it this way, “Love your Neighbor as much as you love your church community”. When we do that, we are becoming a more Neighbor Loving community.
Functioning as a Neighbor Loving community will enhance our ability to be a Gospel Centered church because good deeds create good favor that allows us to share the Good News.
(Matt. 5:14-16; Matt. 18:21-35; Luke 6:32-36; Rom. 12; Rom. 13:9-10; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Phil. 2:1-11; James 2:1-17)