Are You a Good Neighbor?

In high school my family moved to a new city. I remember when my mom met our next door neighbor. I’ll never forget what she told my mom - “Hi, my name is Fern Meek, as in ‘the meek shall inherit the earth.’ Anything that I have that you need is yours.” What an introduction! The great thing is, she lived up to that. She was always looking out for us and offering to help if she could. She would come over from time to time and share a meal with us and was always so kind. 

I miss Fern. 

Growing up, most of our neighbors were really good to us. We hung out and enjoyed each other's company and helped each other during difficult times. But as I got older and moved around a little bit in my adult years, I noticed that people kept to themselves more and didn’t really try to have conversations, or even look my way. Here and there I had a few that were the exception to this, but overall it seemed like good neighbors were a thing of the past. The more I thought about it, that could have just been my own perspective, and maybe I was the one that was keeping to myself more. 

“. . . God has the ability to give others favor (grace) for us. We can pray and ask God to give us favor in our neighbors’ eyes as well so that we have opportunities to speak with them and share the gospel!”

You know how it is. As adults we all have a million things to keep us busy and distracted. Many of us have families and activities to do throughout the week. With work and ministry and all of that, where is the time for the neighbors? I mean, really, do we have time for them? And why should we? I had a chance to consider this recently, when my sweet neighbor came over and shoveled our driveway in the middle of the day when my wife and I were working. I noticed after work and knew who it was because this is the same neighbor who cuts our grass throughout the summer and never asks for anything in return. We’ve never asked her to do this and have offered to pay her, but she won’t hear of it. We also have a neighbor who has let me know on multiple occasions that I forgot to shut my garage door…woops! I guess I’m too busy to remember that sometimes. Thank God for great neighbors that look out for us!

I came across a verse in the Bible the other day that made me think about my neighbors - Proverbs 3:29: 

Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.

I thought, Wow, that’s right! My neighbors do dwell securely by me and I, them. Then I thought, What else does God say about our neighbors? It turns out He has a lot to say about them! In fact there are 144 verses in the Bible that talk about neighbors (spelled ‘neighbour’ in the KJV). 

The first time the word ‘neighbour’ appears, it gives us great context of how we are to be towards our neighbors. In the book of Exodus, chapter 3, the LORD appears to tell Moses how He will use him and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God describes how He will stretch out His hand and smite Egypt with all of His wonders and they will let the people of Israel go. God said he will give the Israelites favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they will bless them on their way out. Verse 22 of chapter 3 says: 

But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

We see here that the Israeli women asked to take raiment (clothing) and jewelry from their Egyptian neighbors for their journey out of Egypt and they would not leave empty handed. In other words, the Egyptian neighbors would have favor towards them and send them away on their journey with raiment and jewelry. What a huge blessing from their neighbors!

Now, I’m not saying we need to give our neighbors jewelry every time they go on a trip, but if our neighbor is in need of clothing or food or something, we should most definitely look out for them and give them what they need. In fact, there is another verse that speaks to just this very thing. Proverbs 3:28: 

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

If we have something our neighbor needs, we are to give it to them. Sound familiar? Fern knew this and was serious when she made that offer to my mother. How many of us can say that’s how we are towards our neighbors?

I’m sure many of you are great neighbors, and maybe this doesn’t apply to you. There are also some that may be thinking, I’d rather not get involved in my neighbors lives. Perhaps they are a little weird or something. But, let’s be careful to not despise them. Proverbs 14:21 tells us:

He that dispiseth his neighbour sinneth:

Yikes, I hope that is not any of us. 

There are so many references to how we are to treat our neighbors and how we are to think of them. Consider 2 of the 10 commandments; Exodus 20:16-17: 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

So we are commanded to not lie about our neighbors, nor covet (desire or lust to have) our neighbor’s house, their wife, servants, animals, nor anything that is theirs! They should be dwelling safely next to us, being able to trust that we are looking out for them and not wanting to take what is theirs.

This study on neighbors goes deep, but in even a few references we can see that God clearly cares about how we treat our neighbors and how we are to look out for each other. If God cares so much about them, we should as well. If this is something you haven’t considered before, perhaps now is a good time to start caring more for our neighbors. Maybe they need something you have and you could be a blessing to them. Maybe they just need a friendly smile and wave from across the street when you see them. Maybe they don’t have Jesus in their life and need you to share that with them. Just think about the people that live closest to you, who may be struggling, and you are the one God put there to help. You never know, you could be the one in need and they could be the blessing for you as well. I have been greatly blessed by good neighbors and I pray I have been a blessing to them as well.

Remember in the first mention of ‘neighbour’ in the Bible, we also see that God has the ability to give others favor (grace) for us. We can pray and ask God to give us favor in our neighbors’ eyes as well so that we have opportunities to speak with them and share the gospel! If you’re reading this, more than likely you are someone's neighbor. So, the next time you see a neighbor you maybe haven’t met or never really talked to, don’t be afraid to reach out and say “hello” and ask how they are doing. You never know the relationships that can be gained. So, do you think you are a good neighbor? In God’s eyes and according to His standards, are you a good neighbor? It’s certainly something to consider.

Mark Rhodes, along with his wife, is a leader of LIFE Fellowship, where he leads worship and coordinates services. He also leads a Bible study, and he serves as administrator of the LIFE|Line ministry.

LIFE|Line is a ministry of Life Fellowship, a fellowship of Midtown Baptist Temple.