Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 ESV Bible Gateway 

I am pretty blessed. I love my subdivision called Lugarno Terra. Basically it was built from scratch in 2019 in a former alfalfa field in the outskirts of Kuna, Idaho a suburb of Boise. We were the 10th family to build our home and closed June 2020 and moved here August 2020. We watched as more and more houses went up, the bulk of neighbors calling themselves refugees from California. Then comes Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada and then locals, us from Tennessee, a couple from Chicago, and a couple Texans. A group of us, about 7, called ourselves ‘the Lugarno Terra street gang’ and took nightly walks on the street not the sidewalks, before there were lots of other people here. 

Anyway the verse says love your neighbors and I found out recently complaining to the HOA(Home owners association) is not a way to win over future friends. Our neighborhood is unique in that early on once a month one resident began a meet and greet coffee in the clubhouse. This was a terrific way to connect with others. The families with young children bond on the playground. And then there was a foodie group. There is a Facebook page to communicate on. 

It is so important to do kind things and forgive when you have been hurt and don’t hold grudges. The neighbor whose shed is too big, or whose dog barks non stop, or those who let pets do their thing in your yard. Learn to turn the other cheek if you expect to be a good witness for Christ on your block. Keep smiling, keep praying, and above all show kindness not judgment. 

PRAYER: Lord thank you for friends. Thank you for kind neighbors. Thank you for opportunities to share and help others. Guide me to be a shining light where you placed me. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

#BG2