3 Genuine Ways To Be A Good Neighbor Today
I’m reading Romans 15 when it hits me: when we walk together, linking arms and encouraging each other on, God gets “the praise He’s due” (v. 7). I get to be a good neighbor, get to accept and build up the people around me, and you know what? It illuminates how God Himself accepts us, champions us, and carries our weaknesses to the cross.
The very lives we live fit like iridescent shapes into the kaleidoscope of God’s plan for this wonderful, aching earth. We bump up against each other as life jostles us. It may feel at times like friction. But look through the kaleidoscope and you’ll see the stunning picture we create together.
We’re a colorful assortment of polygons differentiated by shape and shade. And all this difference, together, makes the ever-changing picture beautiful.
Together, we point to Him–as God-reflectors and missional neighbors. You and I get to mirror the example Christ set through the way we love our neighbors.
Let’s look at a few practical, genuine ways to be a good neighbor.
3 Ways to Be a Good Neighbor
1–See Each Other
I’m guilty of overcomplicating what it means to be a good neighbor. Perhaps you can relate. I’ll take an others-focused goal–like being interruptible, hospitable, or charitable–and set an unrealistic expectation for myself. But the truth is, having other responsibilities doesn’t make you a bad neighbor. We can have healthy boundaries that ensure missional neighboring is infused in everyday life, not stacked on top of it.
You have permission to start small. To gently lean into a way of life that rubs elbows with neighbors so the things God is doing inside you can spill naturally into conversations. To open your heart, home, and life to your neighbors–one tiny baby step at a time.
Maybe it looks like simply, honestly seeing someone else.
Let’s pause here for a moment. Close your eyes and recall a time you felt truly seen. Maybe it was someone remembering your name or noticing that your tired smile didn’t match your peppy, “I’m doing great!” Perhaps it was a compliment from a stranger, or being appreciated out loud in an unexpected way.
My guess is that there was more intentionality than time involved. This memory that you’ll hold onto for a long time may have felt insignificant to the other person.
Now, how might you create a similar, meaningful experience of feeling seen for someone in your neighborhood? This, my friend, is one small but powerful way to be a good neighbor.
2–Strengthen Each Other
“We are called to carry the weakness of those who are not strong,” explains the Apostle Paul in the beginning of the chapter. “Each of us must strive to please our neighbors, pursuing their welfare so they will become strong” (Romans 15:1-2, The Voice).
Let’s be the sort of people who don’t judge or gossip about each other, but instead come alongside, pull each other out of ruts, and offer a different lens to cover each others’ blind spots.
Let’s be quick to forgive and slow to compare.
Quick build each other up and slow to criticize.
Quick to link arms and slow to compete.
The truth is that we’re stronger when we lean on each other, when we can focus forward because we know friends have our back.
Perhaps the bravest, most neighborly way to strengthen each other is to first admit where we’re weak. When we’re willing to risk embarrassment to be real, to be the one who needs a helping hand this time, to let our own need for grace show, we create stepping stones for others.
So let’s inch towards vulnerability, cloaking our efforts to strengthen others in genuine humility, knowing that we all have areas of weakness. In doing so, we will not only strengthen our neighbors, but empower them to be people who strengthen other people.
For more ideas on how we can help each other out of ruts and cover each other’s blind spots, check out the Enneaneighboring Summer Series. You can also grab the Enneagram Neighboring lists–available both as phone wallpapers and printables–for tailored ideas on being a good neighbor.
3–Shield Each Other
What happens when we prioritize the wellbeing of our neighbors, as Romans 15 urges? We make their burdens a little easier to bear.
Paul says it another way in Galatians 6:2: “Shoulder each other’s burdens, and then you will live as the law of the Anointed teaches us” (The Voice).
Bad news lands softer when you don’t feel alone. Growing pains are more manageable when you’re in good company. Waiting seasons are less overwhelming when you’re regularly encouraged. And rejection hits differently when others hurt with you and hold you up.
In essence, our togetherness acts as a shield.
But we often reach for support via a drive across town or a long-distance phone call. What if some of the people within walking distance can be this type of friends for you– friends who shield each other from the harshness of life? What if you can be this sort of neighbor friend for someone who lives near you?
A Blessing as You Lean Into Being a Good Neighbor
Let’s circle back to the kaleidoscope analogy. Being a good neighbor doesn’t mean following a rote plan or being a carbon copy of each other.
It’s about loving genuinely and like Christ as we bring our uniqueness to the table. It’s about making the people in front of us feel seen.
It’s strength drenched in grace and humility, offered as apologies, admissions of our own lack or struggle, and openness to God continually shaping us.
And it’s mirroring how Christ Himself shields us by shouldering burdens for our neighbors.
I’ll leave you with a blessing as you lean into being a good neighbor.
May you stay present to this moment in time, the people nearest you, and the way you can notice them.
May you have the strength to admit when you’re weak so others can follow your lead.
May you offer a hand when a neighbor is in a rut and your lens for her blind spot.
May you be quick to apologize to, to build up, to encourage, and to pray for your neighbors.
May you let your own need for grace show.
May you drop the need to compare or compete.
May you love genuinely and without judgment.
May you soften the hard times your neighbors face by being a friend in their corner.
In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Just a friend over here in your corner,
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