Love thy neighbor…

The question is how much? As much as you love yourself, the bible tells us. But hey, can we really do this?  I mean, pretty much of us think the world revolves around us, don’t we? So how do we have the capacity to love our neighbors? This particular group of people don’t just live next door to us. They’re all around us. All people are our neighbors. And God has given us the uncanny ability to love others as He loves us. Everybody. All races, colors, and creeds. And all we need to do is ask Him in prayer  

and He will deliver. We have an awesome God. One who listens and forgives us everything. All we have to do is ask in our personal time with Him, and get to know God and his son better each day. The rest is easy because God molds us into what He wants us to be. And we should pray that our thoughts will be aligned with His thoughts. The pneumonic for JOY is

Jesus, Others & You. When we put things in this godly order we will learn to be kinder, and more helpful to those around us…our neighbors. I know what you’re thinking. I’m last? Yes. Jesus, our prime example, put himself last when He died a horrible death on the cross for us all. By doing this, Jesus put us first. So if we give ourselves as a loving sacrifice, the way Jesus did (Romans 12:1) it will be less of a struggle to do this. Put others ahead of ourselves, I mean. Sometimes it’s tough. There are some mean and angry people out there. But, if we stay committed to this change in our behavior, it will get easier. And it will make a tremendous difference in how your neighbors will respond to you. You’ll see. Trust me.

 Let me know what you think.

 Thanks for viewing.

English: I took photo with Canon camera in Lubbock, TX. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Now or Then

 

We’ve all heard how much better it was to live “back in the day,” right? When life was slower and much more laid back and calm. Yeah, I know you’ve at least heard about it from somebody. Your mom or grandparent, someone. Just ask somebody you trust. I’m talking about the 50s/60s era vs. today.

Then

They’ll probably tell you that back then they didn’t have to lock their doors at night because the world was a safer place. And that then people kept their jobs longer or they could change jobs if their bosses didn’t pay them enough, and get another by the end of the day. And then children entertained themselves by playing outside and using their imagination for long periods of time. Or how then they could ride their bikes over to a friend’s house as long as they came home before dark. They’ll probably mention that then the children had more respect for their parents and elders, and discipline was doled out regularly. The crime rate was much lower then, and neighbors helped neighbors. They might add how much easier it was to buy a house or land. They slept better at night, too because they worked so hard during the day at their homes and jobs. Then when a woman got married, she assumed the role of housewife and stay-at-home-mom in most homes.

Now                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Thieves break into locked homes now. Their is little to no job security. Now children entertain themselves with video games, computer, tv, iphones, ipads, cell phones with games, texting, internet, etc. Now it’s not safe to ride bikes anywhere because sexual predators are so prevalent. And because now social media is so polluted with ungodly behavior, attitudes, language, etc., it’s hard to raise proper, respectful teens and tweens now. Not impossible, but hard. When children don’t have appropriate role models in their life, or have

tex playing video games (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

dysfunctional families, problems ensue. Now a lot of times discipline in the home is not as effective because there are no consequences or consistency in the punishment. Teens talk back more now and get away with more, especially if there is an absent/deceased parent. Crime now is rampant. Our neighbors move out of the neighborhood more frequently now and we don’t really get the chance to know them. Some work nights and are asleep during the day. Most of them aren’t as “neighborly” as they were back then. It’s not as easy to buy a house now, or land in this present economy crisis. AKA The Great Recession. Many people don’t sleep well or have sleep disorders now, probably due to being overly stressed. We’re not as physically active now as we used to be. And housewives and stay-at-home-moms are almost non-existent now (except on tv) because both spouses work outside the home. Most households own two or more vehicles. Now couples accumulate much higher debt and feel both parties have to work full time jobs with some taking on second jobs.

That’s it. So…what do you think? Having a reasonably good idea how each era lived/lives–which of the two eras  would you choose to live in–then or now? 

Just curious. Thanks for viewing.

*These are random views of people I’ve spoken with in day-to-day conversation. I don’t have any real statistics.

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