“Loving your neighbor starts with an awareness of his or her existence.”

A thought by Mark Batterson from his book, Whisper: How to Hear the Voice of God (p. 142). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

I know, I know, this loving my neighbor can be a turn-off.  But here is the problem, Jesus has asked us to.  It may be a small thing but it all starts with a small thing like just being aware of them.  But they are not my family, I’m only a family person.  I understand but Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  

Mark says, “No one is in your life by accident; everyone is there by divine appointment. It’s your job not just to notice them but to care for them. And that goes for introverts, extroverts, and everyone in between. The most caring thing you can do is talk to God about them and listen to Him regarding them.”

Later he says, “When we hear the word vision, we tend to think of some grand objective, such as putting a man on the moon. And that is one type of vision. But the most important kind of vision is a vision for people. And again, Jesus sets the bar.

“We don’t know much about Mary Magdalene, but we do know that she was possessed by seven demons before Jesus cast them out. (Luke 8:2) Mary had seven problems she couldn’t solve. Mary was broken in seven places. Those are the people we tend to give up on, but not God. He won’t give up, can’t give up! It’s not in His nature.

“We write off people like Mary, but Jesus writes them in. In fact, Mary became the leading lady in the most important episode in all of Scripture. She was the very first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ and will be forever known as ‘the apostle to the apostles.’ Put that on your business card! And that’s just like God, isn’t it?”

And Mark then said, “We write people off.

“Jesus writes people in.”

So, are you open to fulfilling God’s vision by first being aware of your neighbor’s existence?