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| Thank God for nosy neighbors |
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We have the greatest neighbors! One of our neighbors actually called us after driving past the back of our house to let us know he heard running water outside, thinking it might have been a broken pipe. Turned out to be nothing, but what if it had been? He would have prevented further damage and possibly saved us great expense and hardship! We were so glad he called!
A few weeks later we had the fire dept. come out to check for a possible chimney fire, but that too was a false alarm. Another neighbor called this time to make sure we were alright, after seeing the fire truck in our driveway. Again, so glad she called! Like our other neighbor, she had our best interests in mind.
Do we accept Christian accountability the same way we appreciate our next door neighbors looking out for our interests? I have to say that unless I am prepared for what I might receive from my Christian brother/sister, I might not appreciate it very much. But often our fellow Christians give us personal/spiritual feedback for the exact same reason our neighbors checked in with us, out of genuine concern for us!
4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. This is called "loving thy neighbor" too, and a big part of this is Christian accountability. It isn't always easy to be loved this way, if it means having some junk in my life pointed out to me by someone else. But I have to remind myself that such concern for one another is a duty within the body.
Therefore from now on I will always try to accept feedback gracefully, with a heart of love (and forgiveness). And if I ever find myself on the giving end, I will pray much beforehand, making sure that I speak gently, lovingly, and truthfully, and that what I give is meant only to build others up. |
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| To add a comment to "Thank God for nosy neighbors" |
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| June 11, 2007 |
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| I have a funny fire truck/neighbor story. The girls and I were outside. All of the sudden I hear my smoke alarm go off. Since we were all safe outside and my kids were little, I did not want to go into the house. So I called the fire department from my cell phone and they said they would be right over. Well talk about nosey neighbors! You would have thought there was a free concert in my yard or something. After all that, the fire department determined that the smell from my neighbors dinner had pulled through a window fan into my house and set off the detector. I saw her husband when he got home, and I said "I don't know what you are having for dinner, but it set off my smoke detector and brought the fire department. So enjoy your supper!" |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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| THAT'S A GREAT STORY SUE FUNNY THING THAT'S HOW THE KIDS ALWAYS KNEW WHEN OUR SUPPER WAS READY THE SMOKE ALARM WOULD SOUND. IT WAS MOUNTED TO CLOSE TO THE OVEN IT BECAME THE FAMILY JOKE. NOW SINCE WE REMODELED AND REMOVED THE ALARM I HAVE TO TELL THEM. |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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I agape you Mike...just in case you didn't know! lol We're so thick-headed sometimes, ain't we? I'm actually glad for the last move we made, which is back into my old neghborhood, the one I grew up in. We're like four houses down from my folks, which is a blessing because my dad is disabled and my mom works during the day (I work in the afternoon after she's already home), so in case there's a need there someone is always available to fill it. It's also kinda neat having (most of) the same neighbors as I did for 20+ years previously, and we all look out for each other. When I moved outta my folks house and into my first house, the neighbors there were snooty and mean, and nobody would say anything to you unless it was to complain about something. Thank God those days are gone! But I think you could draw a paralleling analogy with them as well, since there are factions within the body that act the same way -- you never hear a thing from them unless it's to complain about something. May it never be so amongst us here! Knock on wood Kneel at cross! |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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| I am thankful that I have great neighbors. We live out in the country, so no one lives really close together, but I know they are there if I need help. My husband is gone a lot, and it is comforting to know that help is only a phone call away should I need it. We got robbed last summer, and it was such a blessing to have the support of neighbors. I thank God He has blessed me with the ones I have. |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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Amen Deb, I'm glad to hear that you have great neighbors! I hope you have a close support net of Christian friends as well, friends so dear that they feel free to tell you when you appear to be spiritually "out of sync", or heck, even downright sinful!! (lol) I had a buddy tell me a couple years ago that he was really uncomfortable with something I said to laura, that and the way I said it. I was kinda blown away, because he obviously loved me enough that he knew I wasn't gonna take offense. THAT is the kind of Christian friends we ALL need!! Grace to them!!
Jason, I agape you too. I love your comments, they always make me think. And yes I see that parallel, sounds like yet another great blog!
Speaking of close neighbors, we used to live in a neighborhood where all the houses were about 20 ft apart, but we barely had any meaningful conversations with our next door neighbors in the 2.5 yrs we lived there. Now we live where some neighbors' houses can't even be seen from our place, yet we talk all the time! We have great relationships with nearly all the neighbors. Ironic, isn't it?
~mike |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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| Oops i forgot to mention our neighbors where we live now there was an older couple next door who adopted us they were so wonderful to us they raised a garden in their back yard best tomatoes i ever ate we took care of their house and plants when they went away for the winter they were just like another set of parents. about eight yrs ago he passed away and a year later she moved closer to her daughter i really miss them best neighbors we ever had the couple there now is nice we keep an eye out for each other but it's just not the same. |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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| Cathy, you are a great neighbor, very thoughtful! I can see you being a great accountability partner to someone. ~mike |
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| June 12, 2007 |
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And if I ever find myself on the giving end, I will pray much beforehand, making sure that I speak gently, lovingly, and truthfully, and that what I give is meant only to build others up.
Amen, Mike! This is key! If the correction is motivated by anything other than genuine love, it is best never said, and is likely to do more harm than good. |
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