Sunday, February 7, 2010

Loving Others

My mom has been telling me for the past few weeks that I really needed to watch the sermon by Pastor Dan in which he pretends to be Mr.Roger. I had the best intentions of doing so, but I kept on forgetting. This morning I finally watched it because I determined it to be too cold for any living creature to be walking around outside. Let me say, I am very glad that I watched it. 

The topic of the sermon was aobut loving your neighbor. Seems pretty simple, right? How many times have we heard the golden rule? It has been drilled into our heads since we were old enough to say "mine". Even though I have always known the golden rule, I guess I have never really considered its implications.

For me, college seems to be full of narcissism. To be honest, a lot of people are focused on what they can get out of school, what they want, etc. I fall into this trap of thinking, again and again. Don't get me wrong, college is a great time to be exploring yourself and what you want out of life. There is nothing wrong with trying to be the best that you can be. Yet I know for myself that I often use this as an excuse to miss out on loving others.

In his sermon, Dan was talking about being a good neighbor. There are so many Biblical references to being a good neighbor--it's kind of astonishing. Basically it all boils down to, are you a neighbor that you would want to live next to? This really struck me. There are so many opportuntities for me to love others and treat them the way I want to be treated. I live with two roommates, how often do I consider their needs before mine? I go to class everyday--how often do I think about how my actions affect my classmates, my TA's, or my professors? At my job, do I really consider those around me? The opportunities to love others overwhelms me. Yet I feel as though I have been blinded by a what-about-me attitude. 


After listening to this sermon I realize that I need a reality check. It's time for me to truly start loving other and treating them as I would want to be treated. It's not all about me, and it never has been. I need to start asking myself if I am someone that I would want to live next to. And maybe I can start to be a good neighbor to those around me.

If you want to listen to the sermon, click on the link below and select the January 24th teaching.
FSBO Sermon

1 comment:

Kaitlyn Beer said...

becca, I feel the same way a lot too. especially when I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of rich bratty kids. but I think it's SO important to remember that God loves every single person on this earth as much as he loves me and that I should show them love, even if it's just a small amount.

I WILL listen to that sermon :)

love,
katie

ps: I really liked this post a lot!