Love Your Neighbor

 


I wasn't sure if I wanted to include this photo (which is a shot of the backyard of the house where we worked today) in tonight's entry. I could have just left it at the pictures of our beaming volunteers and called it a good enough(see below if that's what you came for). And that may have been a good idea. After all, you (nor I) know the people who own this house, or why they choose to decorate their yard in such a fashion. And I'd hate to have you make judgments about the people we're working with down here based on one picture.

Then again, that fear probably says a lot more about me than it does about you.

During our team meeting tonight, I confessed to the group that I think I have a long way to go before I'm loving these people we're serving in the way that Christ calls me to love. Sure, I am delighted to work on their home. I enjoy chatting it up with them too. But then, I might look at some silly thing like a cluttered back yard and allow the seed of my own prejudices and pride to grow and swell like an out of control zucchini plant.

I want my love for these image-bearers of God to be about more than new drywall and a fresh coat of paint. I want it to be about respect. I want to see more than the condition of a home or a yard. I want to see people who are temples of the Holy Spirit. I want my love go beyond conditions,to be something more than a commodity. I want to love freely and unconditionally. I want my heart to be cleared of the junk that so easily piles up there. I want to love like Jesus.