GOOD NEIGHBORS

   My late wife, Carol, and I bought our first house in 1974. It was located just north of Cherrydale in Greenville, SC. That house then cost $18,000. It was a pre-owned, 1050 sq. ft. house, that sat on a small lot. An older neighbor rang our doorbell and welcomed us.

“Hi, I’m Ralph Gerald,” he said. “I live up the street. This is a good neighborhood. Nobody bothers anybody.”

I wondered if our neighbors would be friendly and if Mr. Gerald was giving me a warning — a warning not to bother anyone. LOL.

“Love your neighbor as yourself; but don’t take down the fence,” Carl Sandburg said.

Arthur Baer quipped, “A good neighbor is a fellow who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn’t climb over it.”

Harry S. Truman said, “In order to have good neighbors, we must also be good neighbors. That applies in every field of human endeavor.” 

Carol and I liked the house we bought and learned to love our neighbors. 

In the book titled Can a Busy Christian Develop Her Spiritual Life? Jill Briscoe wrote this: 

“Years ago, as I waited in line at a local shop, I heard the gossip. My neighbor’s husband had left her. The night before he had packed his things into a van and driven out of her life.

“I knew my neighbor casually. When we did speak, which wasn’t often, it was about the weather. Our subdivision was the type where people led their own lives and neighbors didn’t really get to know one another. 

“When I returned home, I struggled with what to do. Should I visit my neighbor, or pretend I knew nothing about her situation and go on with my day? In my mind I could see her sitting at her kitchen table, alone. She was in her fifties and the kids were grown. 

“Finally, I got up the courage and walked over to her house. When she opened her door, I said, “I heard through the grapevine your husband left you last night. Can I do anything to help?”

“Immediately, she burst into tears and said, ‘Come in. Come in.’ I spent the entire morning with her — listening, putting my arm around her, and having coffee. But it was the start of a relationship.”     

“And who is my neighbor?” A lawyer asked Jesus.

Jesus answered: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 

“Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 

“So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 

“But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 

The lawyer said, “The one who showed him mercy.” 

And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” 

  — (From Luke 10:25-37 ESV)
 
  NEIGHBOR Verses (from ESVersion)

“Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor” (Proverbs 14:21).

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.  Never be wise in your own sight” (Romans 12:16).

“Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away” (Proverbs 27:10b).

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause” (Isaiah 1:17).

“‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Jesus in Mark 12:30-31).