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?
