Alas, if you get slapped with a restraining order, you probably aren’t loving your neighbors the right way! What does it look like to help those around us when society has become very suspicious of anyone offering help?
Category: love
Categories
Real Love Never Fails
Today is Valentine’s Day. It is a time when we celebrate love. Most likely, we think of romantic love. And I certainly am a fan of romance. However, romance can be fickle and temporary. Real love that never fails. What kind of love is that?
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
A few years back, I wrote a post on five reasons kids need Valentine’s Day. In it, I wrote that kids need to see love in action. That is even more true in the last couple of years. Love had been hard to find in a pandemic. The kind of love the Apostle Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13 is hard to come by, but so desperately desired in this modern world.
A World of Love
Just think what kind of world it would be if we rediscovered unconditional love. We would turn away from the selfishness that is killing us inside and begin to look at others as friends instead of enemies.
It would begin to melt fear because perfect love casts it out. I like one version of 1 John 4:18. “It says fear has torment.” How many of us are tormented in today’s world by fear? Could it be that the answer is to be made perfect in love?
The Courage of Love
It is a far cry from what the world prescribes for fear. Most advice we hear is to act angry and to be courageous. However, it is just as possible for love to bring courage instead of anger. We don’t have to act like jerks to eliminate fear. Courage brought on by love brings far less collateral damage than anger and aggression.
This day is named after a man who showed love to others even unto martyrdom. At the time of his death, most would have thought his sacrifice was meaningless. After all, just another Christian was executed. Yet, his courage that was brought on by love is a message for us today.
There is power in it because real love never fails.
Categories
Loving Your Neighbor
This morning, I am going to be teaching kids what it means to love your neighbor. As I’m thinking about this, I naturally tend to think about Mr. Rogers. He had a nice way of making difficult concepts simple. Here is one of his quotes.
“When we look for what’s best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we’re doing what God does, so in appreciating our neighbor, we’re participating in something truly sacred.”
Fred Rogers
We teach our kids to immediately be suspicious of others. We tell our kids to be aware of “stranger danger.” And it is good to help our kids have awareness of potential hazards. Unfortunately, there are evil people out there.
But there are also good people out there. There are ways to nurture giving in our children. And really, loving our neighbor is all about being generous. We can love because we are thankful for what we have and can give to those around us who are in need.
But what if our neighbors have no material needs? We all need to be recognized and affirmed. It may look different for each person. Some may want to be left alone. If so, what are ways we can show love by being considerate and generous?
In a world that teaches us to be scared of our neighbors, I am thinking today about how to treat my neighbor like I would want to be treated. How do we become good neighbors?
Categories
Love and Forgiveness
Yesterday, I wrote about the Fourth Sunday of Advent. This week, it’s about love. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand. Though most of us like the idea of unconditional love, not too many of us are keen on the concept of forgiveness. But the two ideas make the world a much better place.
“Forgiveness is the final form of love.”
Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2021. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/reinhold_niebuhr_121403, accessed December 20, 2021.
Reinhold Niebuhr
We prefer revenge to grace. Most movies follow that plot. Who would watch a movie about forgiveness anyway? They are out there but rarely do they become box office hits. But in the real world, letting someone off the hook is much more practical than revenge.
Business and Politics
You wouldn’t know it by the way business and politics are played these days. We are encouraged to own our enemies instead of doing good toward them. What do you mean show mercy? We are supposed to finish them off! Obliterate them! Off with their heads! Who cares about peace on earth, good will towards men? We have need to give them a taste of their own medicine!
But is that really wise? When will it all end? Is it when the strongest party destroys the other? How has that worked so far? When carried to the extreme, it brings genocide, famine and misery.
There is a better way.
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”
Leviticus 19:18 (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The problem with the killer instinct is it has the potential to kill. None of us like a threatening environment. But if we aren’t the ones seeking peace, mercy and good will, who will? Let there be peace on earth, and may we be the ones to bring it. It takes a lot of love and forgiveness.
Is social distancing getting the better of you these days? Do you find it hard to love your neighbor while maintaining a distance of at least six feet (1.8288 meters)? Do you find yourself wondering what everyone else is doing on the other side of the fence?
This morning, my wife and I went to the grocery early. We figured it was best to get there before the crowds really kicked in. Well, the crowds were already at our grocery by 7:00 AM. I can only imagine how it would go up from there. The cashier remarked that they were going to limit the number of people within the store Monday and that would add to today’s crowds.
I needed some items at the local big-box retailer. It was less crowded. But that was because they were already limiting the number of people in the store. Both places were limiting the amount of “necessary items” you could purchase. At the big-box retailer, I saw a guy stopped for attempting to purchase an excess of bathroom tissue. It was probably for the best. The guy could not have gotten all of that into his car anyway.
I have to admit, it’s been easier to keep in touch with my friends in other states than locally. It seems silly to have a video conference with someone in the same town, but acceptable to do the same with someone out of state. I’ll need to get over that stigma.
The Internet and social media make it easier for me to keep in touch with friends and family. But I am ashamed to admit it’s hard to connect with the family next door since I don’t know their names. This extended time of quarantine has made me reconsider how I connect with people and what is the best way to do that once we get back to some form of mobility again.
What about you? Have you found it easier or harder to connect with your neighbors during the stay-in-place orders?
