Monday 14 August 2017

How Are You Known in Your Neighbourhood?

Hello Readers & Followers. How is the new month going? Trust it's going well. It's being a while we read your comments even though we know you are reading. It would be nice to hear from you so, kindly take a moment to comment below or send an email to trulymakingadifference@gmail.com. It would be lovely to hear from you.

As you all know that it's being a while that I have written on the blog, this is due to caring for my baby. Initially, I felt terrible for not being able to balance a number of things that I did with regards to my service to God. Nevertheless, God encouraged me with a scripture in Ecclesiastes 3:1 which says that there's a time for everything and everything on earth has its special season. With that encouragement, I made a decision to enjoy this season of my life and to be guided by the Holy Spirit on how and when I am to offer my service unto God. Sage and my husband have been really helpful with the blog; they ensured that articles were posted every Monday to build our faith. I pray the Lord will reward them accordingly in Jesus' name.

This week, I would like to encourage everyone of us to be a good neighbour and to consider how we are known in our neighbourhood. 

Do you know your neighbours? Do you know their names? If not, this week, I would like you to come out of your comfort zone or busy schedules and take a step by saying hello to your neighbours and introducing yourself to them. You may discover that you have common interests.

We can take a couple of lessons from the story of the good Samaritan where Jesus Christ encouraged us to go and be a good neighbour like the good Samaritan. 
For the benefit of those that are not familiar with the story, please click here (Luke 10:23-37) to read the story.  

A couple of lessons that we can implement from the good Samaritan are:
  • We are to show love and compassion for those we encounter on this earth.
  • We are to love others regardless of their race, religion, gender, etc.
  • If we are in a position to give, we are to give cheerfully without expecting something back from the person we gave to as God will reward us (Luke 6:35). 

Has anyone ever been a good neighbour to you? I would love to know your experience including how you have been a good neighbour.

See my experience below...
About two years ago, where I had previously lived, one of my neighbours was absolutely amazing and helpful, he exhibited beautiful good works that I appreciated. Every Tuesday, the bin men collected our refuse, my neighbour had observed that I lived alone and I was usually out of the house very early in the morning and returned home late. You won't believe what he did, he took it upon himself to put my refuse wheelie bin back to its base albeit I didn't ask for his help. He undertook this task every Tuesday on my behalf for about a year. I ensured that I regularly expressed my gratitude to him. 

"We are to love others regardless of their race, religion or gender"


Let me share how I have been a good neighbour. Keep reading to find out...
I noticed how my husband took it upon himself to introduce himself to our neighbours when we moved to where we reside, this also gave me the courage to follow suit. Last Christmas, we shared Christmas cards with our neighbours and we shared the beautiful apples from our garden. 
One thing that I have noticed with my neighbours is the fact that we try as much as possible to show acts of love and kindness to one another. For example, I have noticed that the postman automatically brings people's parcels and big posts for me to keep for them until they return home. It dawned on me that if my neighbours had been horrible towards us, I probably would not be too keen to collect their parcels for them. Likewise, they wouldn't want to collect our own parcels for us if we had been horrible towards them. No wonder God told us that we should not plan to hurt our neighbours who lives nearby...(Proverbs 3:29).

Have you ever been guilty of hurting your neighbours? Do you live at peace with your neighbours? Living at peace with your neighbours is a sign that you are living the way Jesus expects you to live and to show His love.

The charge therefore for this week is for you to do something extraordinary for your neighbours and take time to show an act of love to your neighbours. I have given a few examples below.
  • If you do not know your neighbour's names, start by saying hello and introduce yourself. Christmas is on the way, why not buy Christmas cards for your neighbours. They sell cards that says Merry Christmas to my neighbours or to my neighbours on Christmas and sign it with your names, this way your neighbours will get to know your names.
  • Grab every opportunity to do good and be a blessing if you are in a position to.
  • Pray for your neighbours.
  • Participate in any community activities that you are able to.
  • Keep a lovely smile.
  • Finally, be a good neighbour to anyone you come in contact with.

With the spirit of being a good neighbour, I'd like to invite our Lagos (Nigeria) readers and followers that are youths to a youth conference that will be happening this coming Saturday (19th August @ 11am). See the flyer below and the registration link.



Registration link: https://pcym.com.ng/yoam2017-2/

Have a lovely week! See you next Monday; next week's post is going to be about Confess and Forsake.

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