37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39 ESV)
I have lived in one house for quite a long time. I have seen neighbors come and go, have been friends with some and have barely known others. I look around me now and can say that I have about a 50/50 split of the ones I know and the ones I do not. If a neighbor were to call on me, I am always happy to help. But I do not seek out their needs.
When I was younger and grew up in small towns in Texas I knew almost everybody and everyone came together when someone was in need to help out. We knew people and thus sought out their needs and showed up to help where we could.
Small towns are very different from big cities. People in big cities barely know one another and they are not outside their homes all that much. In small towns people come out at night, or at least they used to. I have not lived there in a long time, maybe it has changed there too.
In all of this we should seek to know our neighbors and seek to know if they have needs. We should show brotherly and Christian love so that they know we are cut from a different cloth.
Reflect on: Who you know in your neighborhood. Is there more you could be doing to seek their needs?
