Comments on: Love thy neighbor as thyself.

By: Exercise365 | The sky on this day.

Exercise365 | The sky on this day. — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:03:13 +0000

[…] Morning yoga, 200 or so crunches traditional style; 50 or so lower body. 50 fly leg lifts, 20 standing pushups and a bunch of ballet kicks. That was this morning before writing. After writing I did an hour of my ugly run/walk. […]

By: Tim Richardson

Tim Richardson — Thu, 31 May 2007 02:00:36 +0000

Tia - It’s hard to love everybody. I raised a similar question this morning at my 6:00 am bible study (where it’s hard to love anyone for planning that!). This morning we were reading the 12th chapter of Mark, we are told to love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our strength and all of our might.

My friend who leads the study (coincidentially named Mark) said this morning that his ability to love God is directly related to how well he loves his neighbor.

Keep waving. You’ll wear him down.

By: stacy

stacy — Wed, 23 May 2007 03:10:02 +0000

I think the best bet is to try to not respond to their antics and ignore them thoroughly. Over time, maybe the novelty of their hate game will wear thin, and they’ll stop of their own accord. Out of sheer boredom.

If you respond or show distress, I think that gives them what they want and feeds the fire, so to speak.

But who knows. I can’t predict what the best course of action is.

By: Kyra

Kyra — Tue, 22 May 2007 03:59:04 +0000

For reasons that should not be discussed in something as public as a blog I have a situation with my SIL. 20 years in the making, this one. I recall one hour long confession that dwelt on nothing more than 17 years of past hurts, anger, resentment…..

My Father confessor at the time said, “Have you prayed for her?” What? How could I be expected to do such a loving act to someone who had hurt me, hurt my family, my husband, my children so very much??? Impossible.

The next year I went back for confession. I mentioned that I found myself getting angry at people…little things just ticked me off. This..that…stuck with me.

“Did you pray for your sister-in-law yet?” I had to bite back the response that wanted to say, “We weren’t talking about HER.”…the answer was a sheepish “no.”

“It grows.” was all Father John said to me.

I do pray for her now…sometimes through venom, but I try.

By: C&C

C&C — Tue, 22 May 2007 03:08:10 +0000

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men…” Galatians 6:9-10a

By: Tia

Tia — Tue, 22 May 2007 02:41:50 +0000

Thanks Dawn! I did indeed check him out and he sounds great! Very approachable and realistic.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Mon, 21 May 2007 21:39:10 +0000

Regarding your running, this guy has been a great inspiration to me…check him out.
Waddle on,

Dawn

http://www.johnbingham.com/

By: (M) Beth

(M) Beth — Mon, 21 May 2007 15:00:54 +0000

There is a prayer (which I don’t have the text of right now because I’m at work) which says - basically - ‘When my enemies stand before the judgement seat, let them not fail to find mercy with You because of me.’

When you pray for your enemies, you don’t have to try to like them. Praying for them to find mercy with God is a loving act in itself, and it is a *God-like* thing to do, because God is wanting to show mercy to all. I think it is easier not to hold resentment when you practice asking God to have mercy on your neighbors as a regular exercise. You just take yourself out of the equation, so to speak. You pray for them like Jesus prayed for us… ‘Father forgive them.’

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 21 May 2007 14:27:20 +0000

If you take a holistic view of the Bible you see a common theme in treatment of others. Love thy neighbor goes hand in hand with “I was naked and you clothed me, I was hungry and you fed me”. That list in Matthew is just an example list. He could just as easily have said “I was your grumpy neighbor who called the cops on you for no reason and you were still kind to me.”

Chris Rice put it well

How did I find myself in a better place
I canâ€™t look down on the frown on the other guyâ€™s face
â€˜Cause when I stoop down low, look him square in the eye
I get a funny feeling, I just might be dealing
With the face of Christ

Ultimately what you should do is pray for them. Not an easy thing to do but you’ll find that your burden is suddenly lighter and your anger just can’t stay. I’ve prayed for my former boss (the one who owes us money still) every since the time we parted ways. If you don’t pray for them? Well, let’s just say God has a way of demanding you give up that which keeps you from him. Prayer has a funny way of giving you God’s perspective on things.

By: sharon

sharon — Mon, 21 May 2007 05:36:47 +0000

That’s a really hard one…Prayer is the only thing that will bring you through this, or that will effect a change in your neighbors’ hearts.

We had a mildly similar experience with an elderly woman that lived next door to us at our apartment.

I took muffins and soup which were rebuffed.

We waved and said hello only to be ignored.

I mainly felt sad for her, because she seemed so lonely, and she would not even acknowledge our presence. I prayed that God would open her heart. But what God did, was take us from that town.

There is a verse somewhere that talks about being loving in the way God wants us to be, thereby heaping burning coals on your enemies’ heads.

One way or the other, I am convinced thus far in my life, that all those things I try to change by shear human effort, really are aching for some honest and constant prayer time. I will certainly prayer for you and your neighbors!